.
Carl Spitzweg
5th February 1808 – 23th September 1885
Carl Spitzweg was born on 5th of February in 1808 in Unterpfaffenhofen, Bavaria. Although trained as a chemist, he discovered quite early his talent for drawing and his affinity with art. Spitzweg travelled extensively during his lifetime and the impressions formed by his travels greatly influenced his work. Shortly after completing his studies in pharmaceutics in 1832, he visited Italy. It was particularly in the cities of Florence, Rome, and Naples that he discovered the many significant works of Western culture which were to leave a permanent imprint on him.
A severe case of dysentery in 1833 strengthened his resolve to abandon his career as a chemist and he proceeded to commit himself solely to his painting. In June 1835, he became a member of the Munich Art Association and travelled that same year to southern Tirol with the landscape painter Eduard Schleich, the Elder.
In 1839 he completed his first painting entitled ''The Poor Poet'. Although this recurring motif would later be considered his most well-known body of work, the painting was not accepted at this time by the jury of the Munich Art Association.
As regards his graphic production, the first publication in 1844 of his own illustrations in the Munich weekly paper 'Fliegende Blätter' is considered quite significant. His visits to the Industrial Exposition in Paris and the World's Fair exhibition in London in 1851 were his first contact with the Oriental scenes which would begin to inform his work.
To the deserving painter were bestowed numerous honours during the second half of Spitzweg's lifetime: in 1865 the Bavarian Royal Merit Order of St. Michael was conferred upon him, and in 1875 he was named an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts.
Carl Spitzweg died on 23th of September in 1885 and was entombed in the historic South Cemetery in Munich.
He leaves behind a body of work dedicated to the townspeople who inhibit his genre scenes, and with acute and pointed, but never ill-natured humour he portrays the everday bourgeois life of his time.
Lit: Siegfried Wichmann, Carl Spitzweg. Verzeichnis der Werke, Gemälde und Aquarelle, Stuttgart: Belser, 2002.
Carl Spitzweg
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3317
Herbstauktionen 19.–20.10.2018
Johannes der Vorläufer als Engel der Wüste mit Basma und Riza
John the Forerunner, Angel of the Desert with basma and riza. Yaroslavl 1769. Egg tempera over chalk ground on panel, and partially gilt silver. John with wings, holding an opened scroll and a chalice with his own head. Gilt basma with embossed floral ornaments. Embossed and chiselled riza with attached halo. Assayer's mark in Cyrillic «1769 G.L.» for Grigorij Ljusinow (1766 - 1805), city mark for Yaroslavl (datable
H 38, W 32,3 cm.
This form of representation of John the Forerunner with wings is a rather rare subject. After the gospel of Mark, Saint John is shown here as an angel. He holds a chalice, usually with Child Jesus as a symbol for the baptism of the Son of God or with his own head as an indication of his martyrdom.
Provenance: private collection Upper Palatinate.
Literature: Klaus Wessel and Helmut Brenske, Ikonen, Munich 1980, 
Jaroslawl 1769. Eitempera über Kreidegrund auf Holz, und Silber, partiell vergoldet. Der geflügelte Johannes, eine geöffnete Schriftrolle und einen Kelch mit seinem eigenen Haupt haltend. Vergoldetes Basma mit getriebenem, floralem Dekor. Getriebene und ziselierte Riza mit aufgesetztem Nimbus. Beschaumeisterzeichen in Kyrillisch «1769 G.L.» für Grigorij Ljusinow (1766 - 1805), Stadtmarke für Jaroslawl (datierbar
H.
Diese Darstellungsform von Johannes dem Vorläufer mit Flügeln ist ein eher seltenes Motiv. Wohl in Anlehnung an das Evangelium von Markus wird der Heilige Johannes hier als Engel gezeigt. Er hält einen Kelch, meist mit dem Christuskind als Symbol für die Taufe des Gottessohnes oder mit seinem eigenen Haupt als Hinweis auf sein Martyrium.
Provenienz: Privatsammlung Oberpfalz.
Literatur: Klaus Wessel und Helmut Brenske, Ikonen, München 1980,