The Concert; and The Artist's Studio

Wenceslas Wehrlin (or Venceslao Verlin, as he was called in Italy) was a little-known but talented artist known to have died in Florence in 1780. He is generally believed to have been Viennese and born about 1740, though an inscription on the reverse of his self-portrait in the Uffizi, if correct, would indicate that he was born in Turin in 1725. There is no doubt about the authorship of the present pair: not only are they signed multiple times, the figure of the artist seated at his easel can be compared to the Uffizi self-portrait, in which Wehrlin, palette in hand, shows off a just-completed portrait of the Grand Duke Peter Leopold. These works are intimate in scale and represent vignettes from upper-class Austrian society. In the first scene, an elegant lady playing pianoforte accompanies a trio of gentleman on violin and cello. The level of detail is so fine that we can nearly identify the paintings that line the walls -- mainly genre scenes of peasants in a village, by Teniers, perhaps -- or read the musical score belonging to the violinist, noted 'violon' on the top of the page. The other painting is a self-portrait of the artist in his studio, his well-dressed, older patron observing with approval as Wehrlin paints his portrait on horseback. The gentleman's groom stands awkwardly before the easel as the artist captures his likeness: he can be identified on the canvas by his blue coat and well-worn brown trousers. Wehrlin is recorded as a painter of portraits, and was clearly an able flatterer, surrounding the satisfied client with indicators of his wealth and status.