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Lot Essay
We are grateful to Dr. Christina Pucher for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs.
Born into a family of painters in the southern Tyrol, Platzer became the chief exponent of the Austrian Rococo style. Although mainly a painter of history and allegories, it was the brilliant colours and meticulous finish of his small-scale cabinet paintings depicting conversation pieces such as this picture that established Platzer's reputation as the unrivalled exponent of his field. His only serious rival in this genre was his friend, Franz Christoph Janneck, whom he had met upon his arrival at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunst in Vienna in 1726, and who painted a number of works in a very similar, if somewhat less detailed, manner. Platzer's miniaturist technique and predilection for the use of copper as a support reveal his clear debt to the Leiden fijnschilders of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The present picture is an excellent example of Platzer's conversation pieces. Typically lavish in conception and detail, the profusion of objects and textures are all designed to produce the air of jewel-like ornament, as well as to amuse as much as to show the artist's ability - details such as the maid's hand reflected in the mirror behind the central woman's head. As yet, the inscription, which seems to read 'AVDS.C.T.O.H.OA.1731.', remains obscure. This is particularly tantalising, as it might shed some light on the identity of the figure represented in the oval overdoor medallion. It has been suggested that this is a representation of the artist, but although that is certainly possible, it has not been possible either way to establish with certainty.
Born into a family of painters in the southern Tyrol, Platzer became the chief exponent of the Austrian Rococo style. Although mainly a painter of history and allegories, it was the brilliant colours and meticulous finish of his small-scale cabinet paintings depicting conversation pieces such as this picture that established Platzer's reputation as the unrivalled exponent of his field. His only serious rival in this genre was his friend, Franz Christoph Janneck, whom he had met upon his arrival at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunst in Vienna in 1726, and who painted a number of works in a very similar, if somewhat less detailed, manner. Platzer's miniaturist technique and predilection for the use of copper as a support reveal his clear debt to the Leiden fijnschilders of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The present picture is an excellent example of Platzer's conversation pieces. Typically lavish in conception and detail, the profusion of objects and textures are all designed to produce the air of jewel-like ornament, as well as to amuse as much as to show the artist's ability - details such as the maid's hand reflected in the mirror behind the central woman's head. As yet, the inscription, which seems to read 'AVDS.C.T.O.H.OA.1731.', remains obscure. This is particularly tantalising, as it might shed some light on the identity of the figure represented in the oval overdoor medallion. It has been suggested that this is a representation of the artist, but although that is certainly possible, it has not been possible either way to establish with certainty.