This calm and reflective mid-19th-century German oil painting depicts a woman reclining, her hand on a zither, before moonlit Alpine scenery.
Gazing outwards across the rooftops and into the distance, this is a moment of quiet solitude imagined among the grandeur of the Alps. Where a church spire rises from a small settlement, and the peaks are quelled by the poignancy of moonlight. It's a meditation on music, introspection and stillness. A timeless rendering of a gentle escape.
She's dressed in an outfit aligned with the late medieval or early Renaissance period. Wearing a bodice and chemise combination, with her hair braided. Her posture creates a soft silhouette. Munich painters of this period often dressed models in imagined medieval costume to project a sense of continuity - as if to convey that nothing has changed in these rural dwellings. Works such as this offered relief from the ever-industrialised urban haste of the burgeoning cities. A small posy of wildflowers in her hat could imply an emotional openness, coupled with an attentiveness to nature, to 19th-century viewers.
Under her right hand, a zither rests. This flat stringed instrument was generally used to accompany a domestic setting. One can imagine her playing it, filling the drifting air with song. Before resting to contemplate the silence after the sound has ended.
Behind her, an orange-red glow suggests a hearth fire. Its radiance falls gently across fabric and wood and contrasts with the coolness of the moon's ambient light. The vines continue their slow climb up the arbor posts.
But the question none of us can truly answer is, what's on her mind? Life beyond the village? The simple passing of time? Someone lost but not forgotten? Or the way music fades into a hush amid the darkness of an evening.
Monogrammed in the lower left 'AB'. Held in a mid-19th-century gilt composition frame with bold scrolling acanthus and floral corner and centre cartouches, a broad swept hollow moulding with applied husk decoration, and a narrow inner fillet with traces of red bole beneath. Very likely to be original.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 40” x 34½” / 102cm x 87cm
Year of creation: c. 1860
Labels & Inscriptions: Stamp on the reverse "Maler-Leinwand Fabrik von A. Schutzmann München". Inscribed 'München' in the lower left by the monogram.
Provenance: Private collection, Germany.
Condition: Cleaned. Revarnished. Old repairs. Areas of fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. The paint layer is stable. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Our reference: BRV2232
