Italienische Mutter mit Kind

The present painting is an important rediscovery from the œuvre of the Austrian painter Friedrich von Amerling and is datable to one of the most creative and productive periods of the artist’s career. Though best known as a portrait painter through his work as the court painter for several Emperors of Austria, Amerling’s genre work was also highly sought-after, and beautifully illustrates why he was considered one of the foremost artists of the Biedermeier period. Austrian painting during the Biedermeier period is characterized by a commitment to realism, but also emphasized themes of Gemütlichkeit, piety and simplicity, rejecting political and social commentary. These themes all find brilliant expression in the present painting. The quiet moment of a young mother staring down at her sleeping child is the epitome of Gemütlichkeit, an ideal which encompasses warmth, comfort and familiarity. At the same time, the figures of the mother and child also carry religious overtones, drawing to mind the Virgin and Child, and, through the pose of the sleeping child, can also be compared to the Pieta. The rose held in the child’s hand further underscores this interpretation through its associations with martyrdom generally and with Christ in particular.
The painting is dated 1850, not long after Amerling’s second trip to Italy, where artist worked in Rome from 1840-1843. Within Amerling’s lifetime, the painting entered the distinguished collection of George F. Tyler (c. 1822-1897), the head of a prominent Philidelphia banking and investment family that could trace its lineage back to the Mayflower. Mr. Tyler lent the painting to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for exhibition in 1877, however, since that time, the painting has remained unexhibited and unpublished, reemerging to the attention of scholars only in the last year.
We are grateful to Dr. Sabine Grabner for confirming the authenticity of this work, which will be included in her forthcoming Friedrich von Amerling catalogue raisonné.