Photograph of Carl Spitzweg.
Carl Spitzweg is a relatively little known Bavarian painter of the last century (1808-1885). Or at least so it would appear, for his name, like that of Hector Roesler Franz, another German painter of the turn of the century, is not mentioned in the celebrated books on the history of art.
Nevertheless, the paintings of the two artists, which have many features in common, are of such a quality as to entitle them to appear in manuals of the history of art. Indeed, few painters have depicted the picturesque in daily life with so much charm and penetrating observation.
Roesler specialized in painting scenes typical of the Rome of his time. Between 1870 and 1907, he executed 120 watercolors, now exhibited in the Museum of Palazzo Braschi. His works became popular in our times, especially in the Eternal City, through a series of picture albums and postcards entitled Roma Sparita (The Rome That Has Vanished).
Although he was not an Italian, Roesler successfully depicted with his brush aspects of the daily life of Rome the last century; and he did it in a lively, fascinating, and even delightful manner. It is indeed a delight for one endowed with artistic, psychological, or sociological sense to analyze his watercolors.
Photograph of Ettore [Hector] Roesler Franz. Photo by Finarts.
In the first picture — one of the artist’s most well known and appreciated — Spitzweg presents, with a fine sense of irony, the hardships in the life of a man of letters. Its title, “The Poor Poet,” expresses very well the idea that the painter wished to convey. The poet lives in a miserable attic without even a bed, his mattress being simply stretched out on the floor. Above the head of the poet, which is wrapped in a white night cap, an open umbrella is perched, presumably to protect him from some uncomfortable leak in the roof. . .Near the small window, a cloth is hanging from a wire that stretches from the wall to the wooden garret. The chimney of the wood stove is used as a hat hanger for the top hat of the poet. On the wall, under the chimney, a nail holds his coat.
“Der arme Poet” or “The poor poet” by Carl Spitzweg.
What is most delightful to the observer, however, is the contrast between the misery and prosaism of the whole ambience and the attitude of the poet, who is immersed in his own work, wrapt in admiration, and oblivious to his surroundings. Thick volumes leaning against the wall or piled in disorder beside him give the impression of a poet who is absorbed in his work. And in order to give emphasis to the attitude of the poet, the painter placed his writing pen in his mouth, because his two hands are occupied: with the right one he is counting the metrics of his verses, while the left one holds the paper. . .
The second painting, entitled “Art and Science,” depicts the enchanting square in a small German town. At the left, alongside a stone fountain where she has gone to draw water, a woman, carrying her water pitcher, watches the work of an artist above her. Sitting on a scaffold raised to the third floor of the prominent building in the background, he is painting the Blessed Virgin with the Child Jesus, on its wall. On the basis of the style of its windows and the turret in its corner, the building seems to belong to the baroque period. Its roof, with the small window just below it, is characteristically baroque. A ledge separates the upper portion of the small tower from its central body, which displays a large window adorned with flowers. The turret has another ledge too, below which one can see its gracious base.
At the window of the attic, which is also embellished with typically German flowers, a feminine figure is interestedly observing the work of the painter and the movement in the square.
“Kunst und Wissenschaft” or “Art and Science” by Carl Spitzweg.
Almost directly over the fountain where the woman pauses before filling her pitcher, one can discern a picturesque emblem — a device for designating old inns characteristic of several European countries. The emblem is held by an artistic pole of wrought iron, and displays a two headed eagle inside of a circle. On the ground, pigeons are strolling, a very common event in the squares of many cities.
A book peddler has erected his stand in the middle of the square. In it one can see several books as well as some prints hanging from wires. As a finishing touch in a painting filled with so many savory details, an expressive personage, dressed in a top hat and tails, is examining a book the peddler has offered him. One has the impression that slender man must be one of the intellectual celebrities of the town: a respected professor, a celebrated writer, a doctor, or perhaps a lawyer famous only in that small, secluded corner of Germany. . .
Perhaps our reader lives in one of those huge modern cities where hustle and bustle, pollution, and artificiality of life are mixed from the most different standpoints so as to interpenetrate the whole environment. If so, let him imagine himself living in the small German town so well depicted by Spitzweg’s brush. Instead of being disturbed by streets agitated by the feverish movement of pedestrians and modern vehicles, the reader would find the calmness reflected in the small square that we have described above; instead of being frustrated by the artificial life in the modern cities, he would enjoy the temperate pleasures and happiness of an organic, natural life. Finally, being freed from the physical, psychological, and moral pollution resulting from antinatural concentrations, unbridled industrialization, and the modern transit of large urban areas, he could immerse himself in a wholesome ambience that is preserved both materially and morally.
In which of these two worlds would you rather live, dear reader?
Crusade For A Christian Civilization, #2, 1980, pg. 22 & 23.
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St. Benedict
St. Benedict
