Lot 1519 Dα

We see a path through a sunlit meadow lined with ripe corn, bushy shrubs, and red poppies. The corpulent, elderly village priest appears a little too warmly dressed for the summer's day in his sturdy shoes, buttoned up jacket, dark tailcoat and top hat, and he has a black umbrella clamped under his arm, which he probably won't be needing. He holds his breviary opened in his hand, but has been disturbed in his religious contemplation by two butterflies blithely fluttering around him. He looks up at them with indignation, and perhaps a little resignation, vainly attempting to disperse the mischief-makers with his walking cane. Spitzweg captures the idyllic everyday scene in his typical, unmistakeable manner with great affection and just a hint of satire.

Siegfried Wichmann gave this work the title “Memorierender Landpfarrer” (Village Priest Memorising his Sermon) and dated it to around 1840, contemporaneously to a group of seven works with the “Dangerous Passage” motif (Wichmann 2002, op. cit., no. 206-212). The group also features in this auction in the form of a drawing entitled “Dangerous Passage”, from a differing provenance, offered as the following lot.