(St. Michael/Eppan 1704–1761)
Two cabinet pictures: The Love Letter and The Interrupted Lovers,
oil on copper, each 12.2 x 16.5 cm, framed (2)

Provenance:
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 10 July 2008, lot 252;
European private collection

We are grateful to Dr. Christina Pucher, Maria Lankowitz, who has confirmed the two paintings to be original works by Platzer and will include them in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné. The paintings are accompanied by an extensive certificate of September 2012.

Dr. Pucher writes: “These two cabinet paintings call to mind scenes from commedia dell’arte, which stages the confusions of love and the characters entangled in them. These so-called ‘gallant’ scenes reflect the social background of Platzer’s privileged clientele, whose principal occupation was to enjoy themselves. As genre pieces, these works deal with themes typical of the Rococo period. In The Love Letter, Platzer shows a wealthy old man seated at a table, while a beautiful young woman in a light blue silk dress bends over him with a serious expression on her face. He proudly presents his riches – a pouch of coins inscribed with the figure 6,000. Unnoticed by the old man, a servant hands over a letter to the beautiful lady. Behind the door, her secret lover waits for her reply, wearing a mask so as not to be recognized. A print on the wall showing a couple in a frivolous pose unmistakably indicates the painting’s amorous content. At the table, which is covered by a precious red carpet, a maid collaborates in the betrayal by seeking to direct the old man’s attention to a plate of delicious fruit and a carafe of intoxicating wine. A companion piece to Love Letter, Interrupted Lovers illustrates the arrival of an unexpected visitor. The young woman in a red dress and yellow bodice holds a piece of needlework in her lap. With blushed cheeks, she guardedly faces an old man, who has entered briskly. Her young lover hides underneath the table, which is covered with a magnificent blue and yellow carpet, and peeps out curiously. The girl in the background, spinning wool, bluntly looks at the intruder, while another girl appearing in the left third of the picture hangs up a linen sheet in order to conceal a further male visitor. Both of them look towards the spectator, as if to symbolically obtain approval for their actions. It is left to the spectator’s imagination whether it is the old father returning home unexpectedly or the fiancé paying his betrothed a surprise visit, and what implications the situation might entail. A large part of Platzer’s oeuvre is made up of such genre scenes… Platzer’s bravura is revealed in his excellent handling of technique. Thanks to a special manner of painting and his brushwork, he manages to produce a surface reminiscent of enamel that is characterized by delicately nuanced and shimmering colours…” Dr. Pucher mentions two comparable compositions by Platzer in the Old Picture Gallery at the Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz. She dates the present paintings to around 1730–35.