Bacchic Revels
Johann Georg Platzer·c. 1740
Historical Context
Johann Georg Platzer, the leading Austrian Rococo painter of cabinet pictures, created this Bacchic Revels around 1740. Working in Vienna, Platzer specialized in small-scale copper paintings depicting mythological and allegorical scenes filled with elegant, sensuous figures in architectural settings. His intimate works were prized by aristocratic collectors for their jewel-like refinement and were influenced by the Venetian tradition as well as French Rococo elegance.
Technical Analysis
The oil-on-copper support allows for an enamel-like surface quality and extraordinary detail in the miniature figures. Platzer's palette is light and warm, with flesh tones glowing against elaborate architectural backdrops painted with precise perspective.
Provenance
Sale, Sotheby’s, London, July 5, 1967, no. 88, the pair to Böhler; Julius Böhler, Munich from 1967 until sold to P. and D. Colnaghi, London [according to email of July 2002 from Georgina Duits to Martha Wolff, copy in curatorial file]; sold by Colnaghi to the Art Institute, 1974.
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