Prayer and contemplation was an activity embodied in many of the works of Spitzweg, for which the hermit was an ideal vehicle. Where artists such as Moritz von Schwind treated the subject with all seriousness, Spitzweg, as our work illustrates, often adopted this theme also to signify man's weaknesses. Here we do not find the overtly mournful, romantic atmosphere with which he treated similar works. Instead the hermit, dressed in white, tilts his head to the right to observe the girl standing behind him. Now we find him struggling with his own psyche and humanity, suggested in the fate of temptation which is depicted here with subtlety and humour.

Painted circa 1855/60, this work illustrates the influence upon Spitzweg of the artist Adolphe Monticelli, whose work he had seen and admired at the Paris exhibition in 1851. Executed in a spontaneous fashion and with a great deal of pentimenti, this piece belongs to the works which contemporary critics praised for its modernity and which would come to significantly influence the Munich School.

This lot is sold with a certificate of authenticity and accompanying text by Professor Siegfried Wichman.