The Artist's Studio

The busy surface pattern exemplifies the use of ornament in central European art of the 1700s. This work also reveals a lot about artistic training in the 1700s while presenting painting as an intellectual and noble pursuit. The man at center-an idealized portrait of the artist-shows off a Bacchanal to a connoisseur, while his pupils reveal Platzer's road to success. A studio hand grinds pigments at right. The nude model behind him underscores the centrality of drawing the male body as the cornerstone of artistic practice. The boy on the floor, surrounded by drawings and prints, emphasizes the importance of studying precedents. The art on the walls are allegories of the five senses: The floral still life represents smell; the lutenist and singer sound; and the woman feeding fruit to a parrot taste. For touch, Platzer reinterprets Aesop's fable The Satyr and the Peasant in which the peasant blows on his hands to warm them and his soup to cool it). The Old Testament story of David spying on Bathsheba at her bath appears on the seated artist's easel, representing sight. [source]

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund by exchange 2012.41