The death of the poet Pietro Aretino
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| The death of the poet Pietro Aretino |
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| Anselm Feuerbach , 1854 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 267.5 x 176.3 cm |
| Art Museum Basel |
The Death of the Poet Pietro Aretino is a painting by the German painter Anselm Feuerbach . The work, made in 1854 and measuring 2.67 × 1.76 meters, is now in the public art collection of the Kunstmuseum Basel and is the property of the Gottfried Keller Foundation ( Bern ).
background
Feuerbach had been working on the idea for this picture since autumn 1853. The development of the idea through to its implementation can be deduced from previous studies and sketches.
Feuerbach worked on the painting itself from August to November 1854 in his studio in Karlsruhe . On October 9th he wrote in a letter to his stepmother Henriette: “He and Frommel (meaning Johann Wilhelm Schirmer ) saw Aretin, Schirmer shamed Frommel in the presence of my picture, he treated me as a master and offered me a professorship. I worked with the greatest effort and success on the Aretin, and I can now say with my hand on my heart that this picture will tell me my name. “After completion, Feuerbach hoped that the Prince Regent would purchase the picture for his collection of paintings. On December 28th he wrote in a letter: “ The commission is meeting these days, and I have very high hopes. Prince Karl was there with the regent and said: 'We must have the picture.' “In January 1855 the regent's buying committee rejected the painting. Feuerbach wrote soberly on February 1st: “ The regent is just a child when it comes to art. "
The paintings
The most striking characteristic of the painting is its dynamism, which "harbors the danger of Dionysian exuberance" (Herbert von Eine). Different directions of movement and retarding elements find a rhythmic connection in the spiral scene in the center of the picture. The introduction to the composition and the plot is given by the middle lady, who is strongly illuminated and leans towards the falling poet over the table.
It is puzzling that none of the characters shows dismay or horror at the fatal fall. Only the cramped posture of the man to the left of the fallen victim and the retreat of the woman to the right indicate sympathy. That is why the picture is seen less as a historical staging than as an attempt to interpret the world in which the motifs of vanitas and memento mori play a role. The overturned wine glass reinforces this impression. The art historian Jürgen Ecker emphasizes that Feuerbach dealt at least theoretically with the subject of the memento mori during his student years in Düsseldorf , Munich , Antwerp and Paris . The art historian Jörn Bahns, on the other hand, sees in the painting a juxtaposition of historical moral and world interpretation.
In Ecker's opinion, Feuerbach chose the monumental pictorial form for the purpose of enhancing the impression of the value of this depicted event. Feuerbach also used this method in other works with tragic moments.
literature
- Jürgen Ecker: Anselm Feuerbach. Life and work, critical catalog of the paintings, oil sketches and oil studies , Hirmer, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-7774-5510-5