Allegory of music and the four temperaments

Out of a few dozen paintings by Platzer which existed in pre-war Wrocław, only two remain in the National Museum: the described here Allegory of Music and the Four Temperaments, and the similarly dated Allegory of the Art of Sculpture, both from the collection of Albrecht Sebisch, probably a host of the artist, as well as his friend, during Platzer’s stay in the then Breslau. Among the admirers of the artist’s work there were also members of the royalty (e.g. William VIII bought his paintings for his Kassel residence before 1749), and writers, such as C.L. Hagedorn, who praised the artist in his work Lettre a un Amat. De la Peint dated 1755 (p. 310, etc.). The popularity of the paintings of consistently high quality which he created over a period of thirty years is confirmed by the topography of their presence – from Moscow and St. Petersburg, London, Bergen and Stockholm, to New York and Sydney (cf. G. Agath, Johann Georg Platzer. Ein Gesellschaftsmaler des Wiener Rococo, Dresden 1955). In the 18th century, his fine pictures, with their enamel-like finish and compositions pleasing to the eye of the connoisseur, enjoyed great success among the wealthy upper classes and admirers of the paintings of the so-called Dutch 'Little Masters'. The latter provided the roots of Plazer's work, among the geselschapje of David Vinckboons and Willem Buytewech the Elder, the images of Antwerp artists’ studios and Kunstkabinets by Jan Brueghel the Elder, David Teniers the Younger, the Francken family, Simon de Vos, Hieronymus Janssens, Gerard Thomas, Balthasar van den Bossche, and also the Leiden fijnschilders of Gerard Dou, the Mieris and the Werffs. Plazer's elegant and luminous compositions were also influenced by the art created at the French royal court (Caspar Netscher, Boucher, perhaps also Watteau, Lancret, de Troy), which in the 18th century dictated the trends for the whole of Europe. Italian artists can be also indicated as a source of inspiration for the painter, in particular the Galli-Bibien family residing in Vienna. The characteristically bright and extensive colour palette using sophisticated hues (bluish lilacs, lemony yellows, luminous sea greens, rich purples, pinks and silvery greys) is in line the Rococo style which also delves into the aesthetics of Mannerism: the porcelain-smooth, Rudolphine school paintings dating from around 1600.

In the catalogue of the gallery of the House of Silesian States (Das Ständehaus in Breslau), the painting had a title Die Tonkunst, and only when it arrived in the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts was renamed Allegory of Four Temperaments. The picture shows four groups of figures in a garden in front of the gate showing a view of the mountainous landscape opening up behind it. In the foreground, to the left, an old man in a colourful coat trimmed with fur pores thoughtfully over a book, his hand fending off a young woman – he chooses science over her charms and wealth, confirmed by the objects which surround him – he is probably a melancholic. Across from him, a phlegmatic peasant with a fishing net sits close to the fountain, passing to his female companion the fish he caught. In the centre, one can see a sophisticated sanguine personage, enjoying a courtier’s lifestyle, who leads a lady in a dance, accompanied by music, while in the background, at the gate, a knight embodying a choleric temperament, says goodbye to his sweetheart to rejoin other soldiers.
[Beata Lejman]

keywords: allegory  |  Library of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Wrocław)  |  courtier  |  fountain  |  Picture Gallery in the House of States, Wrocław / Bildergalerie im Ständehaus  |  Hubrig, Ernst Wilhelm von (1712-1787)  |  woman  |  painting (fine arts)  |  music (allegory)  |  Rococo  |  knight  |  Sebisch, Albrecht von (1685-1748)  |  Sebisch-Hubrig – collection  |  German depository in Kamieniec Ząbkowicki  |  old man  |  Austrian art  |  Silesian Museum of Crafts and Antiquities (Wrocław) / Schlesisches Museum für Kunstgewerbe und Altertümer (Breslau)  |  Silesian Museum of Fine Arts, Wrocław / Schlesisches Museum der bildenden Künste, Breslau  |  temperament (allegory)