Curio Cabinet / Art Curio

This muse has got some moves. In this painting from 1800, French artist Charles Meynier depicted Polyhymnia, one of the nine muses in Greek mythology. The piece above, Polyhymnia, Muse of Eloquence, shows a woman dressed in ancient Greek attire, with her arms outstretched to the left. She stands in front of a chair, behind which is a bust of a bearded man. The daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, Polyhymnia was a muse of dancing and geometry. In some legends, she is credited as the inventor of the lyre. Fitting, considering that she is often said to be the mother of Orpheus, the tragic hero known for his skill with the stringed instrument. In line with her association with dancing and the lyre, she is also mentioned in some legends as the muse of song and music. That makes sense. After all, you need music if you want to dance!

 
Polyhymnia, Muse of Eloquence, Charles Meynier
(1768–1832), 1800, Oil on canvas, 108.25 x 69.68 in., The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: Charles Meynier (French, 1768–1832). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2003.6.1. Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.]

How’d you like to have this baby in your parlor? Panel: Spring is a rug manufactured some time around 1715 by the Royal Savonnerie Manufactory, Chaillot Workshops in Paris, France. It’s extremely ornate, detailed with colors and images of spring. Near the bottom of the rug, goats and sheep mingle by an open basket and vase of flowers. Birds appear near the top of the design, along with a coat of arms. Gold borders and ornamentation surround the mostly light-blue, pastel-yellow, and white designs. The factory where this rug was produced could certainly boast about its work. After all, it supplied the royal palace with nearly all of its carpets, tapestries, and upholstery. Not everyone who bought these wares was royal, though. French aristocrats and noblemen, wanting to model their aesthetics after royal ones, commissioned their own housewares from the Royal Savonnerie. This rug, made with an impressive 144 symmetrical rug knots per square inch, is one example of a commissioned piece. It might not have adorned the palace, but making it was still surely a royal feat!
 
Panel: Spring, Royal Savonnerie Manufactory, Chaillot Workshops, c. 1715, Savonnerie knotted-pile; wool, hemp, 108 x 86.5 in. (274.3 x 219.7 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: Royal Savonnerie Manufactory, Chaillot Workshops. The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1952.14, Public Domain, (CC0) designation.]

Here’s some springy green for St. Patrick’s Day. Despite its upbeat look, though, Vincent van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Cypresses wasn’t painted under very happy circumstances. The painting, featuring Van Gogh’s famously wide, swirling brushstrokes, shows a yellow wheat field with green bushes and trees, under a light blue sky with white clouds. Van Gogh painted it while voluntarily staying at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Southern France. The artist’s mental health was deteriorating at the time, following a heated argument with his friend, fellow artist Paul Gauguin, after which Van Gogh cut off part of his left ear. The asylum was less like a modern hospital and more a place for patients to relax away from other people. Seeking comfort in the pastoral nature surrounding the asylum, Van Gogh often painted fields, trees, hills, and night skies. A little over a year after painting Wheat Field with Cypresses, at the age of 37, Van Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It’s a sad reminder that beautiful artwork doesn’t always reflect inner happiness. Yet, Van Gogh’s work inspires happiness in others to this day. Thanks, Vincent.

 
Wheat Field with Cypresses, Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), 1889, oil on canvas, 28.87 × 36.75 in. (73.2 × 93.4 cm.), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York

 
[Image credit & copyright: Vincent van Gogh, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 1993. Public Domain.

Well, there’s something you don’t see everyday. Figure of a Monkey on a Dog is a sculpture that depicts exactly what its title implies: a monkey, dressed in a full outfit of pants, shirt, vest, and hat, riding atop a dog as if the latter animal is a horse. The dog wears two large saddlebags. While one might assume that this sculpture is simply the imaginative work of one whimsical artist, its history actually runs a lot deeper. It was part of a satirical art genre called “singeries”, or “monkey tricks” in French. After French artist Claude III Audran painted a picture of monkeys dressed in human clothes and seated at a table in 1709, other artists took up the same motif. In a movement that lasted through most of the 18th century, French artists painted and sculpted monkeys dressed in finery, engaging in all sorts of human activities, from drinking wine to dancing to playing cards. Too bad for the dog in this sculpture that canines weren’t afforded the same honor as monkeys in singeries. He ended up a beast of burden rather than a dapper dog!

 
Figure of a Monkey on a Dog, Manufactured by Villeroy Factory, c. 1745, soft-paste porcelain with enamel decoration, 6.25 in. (15.9 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: Manufactured by Villeroy Factory, c. 1745. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. 1953.269. Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.]

Like a tiger hidden in seemingly peaceful grass, looks can be deceiving. From its style alone, one might guess that Tiger in Repose, which portrays a tiger lying on the ground in front of mountains, was painted in Asia. The limited color palette and stylized brushstrokes, as well as the painting’s mountainous setting, evoke the feel of classic Asian paintings. Yet, this painting was created by French artist Antoine-Louis Barye, who based it off of animals he observed at a Parisian zoo. So, was Barye simply a prolific painter who studied the works of Asian artists? Not at all. Barye was actually much more known for his animal sculptures than his paintings, and his greatest tutor (and friend) when it came to artistic endeavors was legendary French romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. The two would often go to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris to sketch the animals kept there. Delacroix would use them as studies for his paintings, and Barye for his sculptures. This time, though, Barye decided to paint one of his own in an unusual style. It seems you can always teach an old cat new tricks.

 
Tiger in Repose, Antoine-Louis Barye (French, Paris 1795–1875 Paris), ca. 1850–65, oil on canvas, 10.75 × 14 in. (27.3 × 35.6 cm.), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York.

 
[Image credit & copyright: Antoine-Louis Barye, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2015. Public Domain.]

Don’t touch that stone, it could cost you your life! Terminus was the Roman god of boundaries and the protector of boundary stones. He was often depicted as being made of stone himself, as in the above piece, Terminus, the Device of Erasmus by Hans Holbein the Younger. It depicts a stone statue visible through a hole in a rock wall. The statue depicts a man with only a head and torso. A yellow halo is visible behind its head. In ancient Rome, maintaining boundaries was serious business. Properties were marked by boundary stones, and moving them was once punishable by death. No wonder, then, that the stones were so highly regarded. Terminus as a deity predates the Romans, and even had his own holiday on the Roman calendar. Every February 23, the last day of the Roman Calendar, people would leave offerings of flowers and food by their boundary stones to give thanks to the god. If you did that today, the neighbors might complain about you attracting raccoons.

 
Terminus, the Device of Erasmus, Hans Holbein the Younger
(1497/98–1543), c. 1532, Oil on wood, 8.5 x 8.5 in. (21.6 x 21.6 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: Hans Holbein the Younger, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee in memory of Milton S. Fox 1971.166. Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.]

As they say, when in Rome! Valentine’s Day is always rife with images of Cupid. However, the Roman god of love has been portrayed in many different ways, most of which aren’t commonly seen today. The piece above, Cupid (Amor), depicts a young man with wings from the waist up. He holds an arrow in his hand and a silk-like cloth is draped over his arms. Cupid is the Roman god of love and is based on the Greek pantheon’s Eros, the son of Aphrodite. In Greek mythology, Eros was depicted as an adult and even found a lover of his own, in addition to making others fall in love. It wasn’t until the Romans adopted the figure that he started to be portrayed as a child. Eventually, Cupid became a winged baby, and today he’s sometimes conflated with cherubs, the angels in Christianity that are themselves depicted as child-like winged figures. In the end, though, does it really matter whether the person shooting arrows at you is a man or a child? Either way, you should probably run!

 
Cupid (Amor), Johann Liss (c. 1597–1631), c. 1630, Oil on canvas, 34.5 x 25.87 in. (87.7 x 65.7 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: Johann Liss (German, c. 1597–1631), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1971.100. Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.]

If you want to make money, it always pays to explore your options. Chinese explorer Zhang Qian helped China establish trade relations with surrounding cultures, and his work even contributed to the establishment of the Silk Road. The piece above is a silver wine vessel in the shape of a man on a boat. The man is looking above him while wave-like designs protrude from the vessel. Zhang Qian was tasked by the Chinese court with establishing contact with the Yuezhi people in Central Asia during the 2nd century B.C.E. Along the way, he was captured by nomads and held for ten years. He also acted as a diplomat, allowing the Han Chinese to build military alliances and trade routes to their west. In time, he became a legendary figure, and one story even claims that he got lost while exploring the Milky Way, where he met the Weaving Maid, a figure of myth and a servant in the celestial palace of Queen Mother of the West. Talk about knowing people in high places.

 
Raft Cup (銀槎杯), attributed to Zhu Bishan 朱碧山 (c. 1300–after 1362), China, Yuan (1271-1368) or early Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Hammered silver soldered together with chased decoration, 6.31 in., (16 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: Attributed to Zhu Bishan 朱碧山, The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1977.7. Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.]

Imagine picking up a reliable firearm and some candelabras at the same store. In 18th-century Russia, you might have been able to. After Peter the Great established an armory in the town of Tula, located to the south of Moscow, the area became renowned for fine metalworking, and not just when it came to armaments. The image above shows two candelabras from Tula made of steel. There are gilt decorations and beaded chains on each. The very artisans in Tula who made firearms also came to craft decorative metal objects for homes, known as “Tula ware.” Tula ware could include anything from jewelry boxes to end tables, all made from steel. The objects often mimicked the look of faceted stones and were meticulously detailed. Catherine the Great was known to be an avid patroness of Tula’s metalworkers, and Tula ware was often given as royal gifts to visiting dignitaries. Steel might be cheaper than gold, but craftsmanship can still make it a precious metal.

 
Pair of Candelabra, c. 1790–95, Cut and polished steel with gold and silvered decoration, 16 x 9.75 in. (40.7 x 24.8 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2010.2, Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.]

Long live the emperor! Wait, nevermind. Emperor Balbinus only ruled over the Roman Empire for 99 days, but in that time, he left quite an impression, mostly for being so short-lived. The sculpture above shows a bearded man’s face in marble relief. Chunks of marble are missing from the top of the head and the tip of the nose. Balbinus had the great misfortune of being a Roman emperor in the Year of the Six Emperors (when six different men ascended to power in succession.) Since the Roman Empire tended to only have one emperor at a time, that meant that Balbinus and his ilk that year had very brief, and sometimes conflicting, reigns. Balbinus himself shared the throne with Pupienus, a highly unpopular politician. When the two began to quarrel over who should have more authority, they were kidnapped by their own bodyguards, the Praetorian Guard, and killed during an escape attempt. They were then succeeded by thirteen-year-old Emperor Gordian III, who reigned for six years until he was killed by his own angry troops after a major defeat in battle. Job security isn’t always great today, but at least firings are a lot less deadly.

 
Relief Portrait Head of the Emperor Balbinus, c. 238 CE, Marble, 7.31 in. (18.5 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of J. H. Wade 1925.945. Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.]

"Prayer nut” sounds like a name for someone who loves to go to church, but its meaning is actually a lot more literal! Real prayer nuts are intricate, miniature sculptures contained inside a wooden sphere. The image above shows two round pieces of carved wood connected by a hinge. Both pieces feature detailed, carved scenes. The top scene shows a man about to be beheaded, while the bottom shows a king sitting at a throne before an audience. Also known as paternosters, prayer nuts were often no larger than a golf ball and featured such minutely detailed scenes that magnification was required to truly view them properly. They were popular in the Netherlands in the early 1500s, and were likely prohibitively expensive thanks to the level of detail involved in making them. While they were religious in nature, they were also valued as displays of wealth. Today, only around 150 prayer nuts remain, and their use as devotional items is heavily debated. It’s unclear if they were ever used for prayer at all. This is a tough nut to crack.

 
Prayer Nut with Scenes from the Life of St. James the Greater, Adam Dircksz (active c. 1500), c. 1500–1530, Boxwood, 2.31 x 1.87 in. (5.8 x 4.8 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1961.87, Public domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.

Doesn’t she look peaceful? While it’s well known that many ancient cultures made paintings to honor lost loved ones, nsodie is a lesser-known type of funerary art. These terracotta sculptures were crafted to resemble the heads and faces of the deceased. The sculpture above depicts the head of a woman with her hair in a bun and her eyes closed. The surface of the terra cotta is worn, creating a brown and beige coloration. Nsodie date back to at least the 17th century where they were popular among the Akan people, an ethnic group around the Guinea Coast who speak any of the variety of Akan languages. Nsodie often depicted prominent figures, and were also a reflection of Akan beauty standards. Artists were commissioned by the family of the deceased and invited to visit the dead multiple times before starting their work. Then, they created the nsodie from memory, without a persistent visual reference. Figures were usually depicted with a serene expression, but there are many regional variations among the different Akan groups. Imagine being this poised, even in death.

 
Memorial head (nsodie), Unknown female ceramist, late 1600s–early 1700s, Terracotta, 7.5 x 5.37 x 6.12 in., The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edwin R. and Harriet Pelton Perkins Memorial Fund 1990.22, Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.

It’s not a charger in the modern sense of the word, but it’s sure nice to look at. French artists Edouard Lievre and Fernand Thesmar created this gilded wall charger, a type of decorative plate that was made to be hung. The piece features a gilt metal frame decorated with Asian dragons around the borders. At the center are two birds sitting on a tree branch with red leaves. In the 1860s, Western artists and artisans became fascinated with Japanese art after the nation opened itself to trade with Europe. Popular taste followed suit, and demand for pieces like this one rose quickly. The scene in the middle of this charger was designed by painter Edouard Lievre, and was incorporated into the gilt plate by enamelist Fernand Thesmar through a technique called cloisonné, where glass paste is placed into metal surfaces. Cloisonné as a technique has existed for thousands of years around the world, but at the time, it was heavily associated with Eastern art. Who knew a single plate could hold so many influences?

 
Wall Charger Depicting Two Birds, Edouard Lievre
(1829–1886), Fernand Thesmar (1843–1912), 1879, Cloisonné and painted enamel mounted in gilt metal frame, 19.93x 19.93 in. (50.7 x 50.7 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: Edouard Lievre, Fernand Thesmar, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Arthur F. Connard in memory of Jacob B. Perkins and Family 1985.69, Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.

Who doesn’t like to dress up, especially when sitting for a portrait? French artist Jean-Marc Nattier painted this Greek mythology-themed portrait in the 18th century, but the identity of the subject remains unknown. Portrait of a Woman as Diana depicts a woman in a white dress. She is wearing flowers in her hair and a leopard pelt is draped over her arms as she holds a bow in her hands. To the left is a blue quiver full of arrows. Nattier was known for painting portraits that incorporated mythical imagery, and he often portrayed his subjects in the likeness of the Greek gods. In this case, the woman is depicted as Diana, goddess of the hunt, who is associated with bows, quivers, and pelts like those surrounding Nattier’s mysterious subject. The woman was previously thought to be either Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV, or the king’s daughter, but those theories have been debunked. Whoever she was, she seems to have had a certain divine je ne sais quoi.

 
Portrait of a Woman as Diana, Jean-Marc Nattier
(French, 1685–1766), 1752, Oil on canvas, 39.5 x 31.31 in. (100.4 x 79.5 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: Jean-Marc Nattier, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.643, Pubic Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.]

Who’s crazy for crèche? Nativity displays are still popular Christmas decorations, but nowadays they often take a backseat to things like Christmas trees. At one time, though, nativity scenes, also known as crèche scenes, were the most elaborate decorations one was likely to put out for the holiday. The image above shows a scene composed of clothed figurines gathered around an infant. There are ten human figures, several goats and sheep, and three angelic figures floating above the scene. Starting in 1700, crèche scenes gained popularity in Naples, Italy, thanks to an artistic revival under the rule of King Charles III of Bourbon. These displays consisted of highly-detailed figurines with painted terracotta faces and stuffed, clothed bodies. Like Nativity scenes today, they usually depicted the birth of Jesus, Christianity’s central figure, along with Mary, Joseph, the Magi, and sometimes angels, all wearing detailed, miniaturized costumes. In Neapolitan crèches, these costumes were often based on the popular fashions of the time, and the scene of the Nativity itself was sometimes contained within a larger scene of daily life in Naples. Seems like a lot more work than just hanging some ornaments.

 
Figures from a Crèche, c. 1780–1830, Painted wood and terracotta with various textiles,The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art 1972.368. Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.]

What better time to be festive than when the weather’s so dreary? German artist Paul Klee painted this abstract scene of a circus in winter, evocative of lights and festivities against the stark white cold. Carnival in the Snow depicts three abstract human figures in odd poses alongside various geometric shapes and lines in red, blue, purple, and black against a white background. Born on December 18, 1879, Munchenbuchsee, Switzerland, to a German father and Swiss mother, Klee studied art in Munich before joining the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). Always attracted to symbolism, abstraction, and geometry, Klee’s style eventually evolved to include vibrant primary colors, bold lines, and shapes. Tragically, Klee’s avant-garde pieces were deemed “Degenerate art" by the Nazis, who seized over a hundred of his paintings. Klee passed away in 1940 while living in Switzerland, though even in death, he got the last laugh. Over 9,000 pieces of his art survive today, and Klee is considered a pioneer who worked at the intersection of expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. If a picture is worth a thousand words, his art was abstract poetry.

 
Carnival in the Snow, Paul Klee (1879–1940), 1923,Watercolor, 9.43 x 9.25 in. (24 x 23.5 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art

 
[Image credit & copyright: Paul Klee, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1969.46, Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.

This is one princess who knew how to get a head. Salome is one of the most notorious figures in the New Testament, and a heavily embellished version of her story is told in German opera composer Richard Strauss’s Salome, which debuted on this day in 1905. The piece above, Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, depicts a woman in a European style dress holding a large platter. Below and to the right is a man reaching for a decapitated head. This particular drawing was created by Dutch artist Nicolaus Knupfer in the 1600s, but Salome has captured the imagination of artists and writers for centuries. In the Bible, Salome (though not specifically named) is persuaded by her mother to ask her new stepfather, Herod Antipas, for John the Baptist’s head in retaliation for the latter’s criticism of their marriage. Wilde wrote a play about her in 1891, and that was eventually adapted into an opera by Strauss in 1905. Both iterations were controversial in their time due to their salacious contents, and the opera was even banned in Vienna. It’s not as if the original story was any more family friendly!

 
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, Nicolaus Knupfer
(Dutch, 1603–1655), c. 1650, Pen and brown ink, brown washes and white heightening (oxidized), over black chalk on antique laid paper, 13.12 x 11 in. (33.4 x 27.9 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art

 
[Image credit & copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Nicolaus Knupfer, John L. Severance Fund 2019.8

Snow: it’s the only thing that people anticipate with equal parts dread and excitement. American painter Childe Hassam managed to capture the quiet beauty of fallen snow while highlighting the hassle of it at the same time. His piece above, Sweeping Snow, shows a woman wearing a blue headscarf and a yellow sweater over a white dress as she sweeps snow that has accumulated on the steps. Snow covers the handrails and the bottom steps, which are made of brick. Hassam, who lived from 1859 to 1935, was an admirer of Claude Monet and other French Impressionists. Of his American contemporaries, Hassam is considered to have adhered most closely to the style pioneered by the French, and many of his works clearly feature direct inspiration from Monet. Like Monet, Hassam also didn’t shy away from painting the seemingly mundane. He once said of his art, “The man who will go down to posterity is the man who paints his own time and the scenes of every-day life around him.” Just like snowflakes, every given day and every person in it is unique to history.

 
Sweeping Snow, Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935), c.1890s, Oil on canvas, 23 x 18 cm. 9.06 x 7.06 in., The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: Childe Hassam, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. Henry A. Everett for the Dorothy Burnham Everett Memorial Collection 1938.42, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation, Public domain.

This turkey doesn’t seem ready for Thanksgiving! Dutch artist Melchior de Hondecoeter, who specialized in painting poultry, created this lively image some time around 1680. A Rooster and Turkey Fighting, depicts a battle between a turkey with its wings spread out on the left, and a flapping rooster bearing down on the turkey. Around them are other livestock and exotic birds. Hondecoeter came from a line of painters; both his father and grandfather specialized in depicting animals. Hondecoeter almost exclusively painted birds, and was known for his lifelike details and dynamic poses. Whether roosters, hens, peacocks, or waterfowl, Hondecoeter faithfully captured the posture and plumage of each bird. As an artist, Hondecoeter was in high demand, and sometimes repeated the same themes. In fact, this painting isn’t his only one featuring a rooster and turkey fighting. Understandable, as it’s quite a scene.

 
A Rooster and Turkey Fighting, Melchior de Hondecoeter
(Dutch, 1636–1695), c. 1680, Oil on canvas, 54 x 65.5 in. (137.2 x 166.4 cm.), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1986.59, Public Domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.

Sometimes, it’s about the simple pleasures in life. The Biedermeier Era lasted for around 30 years in early 19th century Vienna, and its aesthetics emphasized the idyllic family life of the middle-class. The portrait above, Countess Széchenyi, depicts a smiling, seated woman in a white dress. To the right is a green parrot perched on a planter, and in the background is a mountain range. This portrait of the countess was painted by Austrian artist Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, and like most of the works to come out of the Biedermeier Era, it's a relatively simple, straightforward painting without much symbolism or social commentary. The Biedermeier style gets its name from Papa Biedermeier, a character that acted as a caricature of the middle-class of the time. At a time of widespread economic hardship in Austria, the Biedermeier style idealized bourgeoisie comforts. Many Biedermeier paintings depict family gatherings and soirees, often around a piano. Though the style wasn’t always viewed favorably by the art community, it is recognized today for its influence on furniture and interior design. After all, what’s wrong with being comfortable?

 
Countess Széchenyi, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793–1865), 1828, Oil on fabric, 38.5 x 30.87 in. (97.8 x 78.5 cm.), Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

 
[Image credit & copyright: The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1988.57, Public domain, Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.