These two paintings, which were originally very probably painted as companion pieces and whose size was only later changed, combine the idea of quodlibet, miscellany (that is, different odd things depicted in trompe l’oeil) with a still life motif. Quodlibets, the oldest example of which is the painting by Vittore Carpaccio in the Getty Museum in Malibu, California, USA, depict various objects, inter alia letters, sheets of paper with writing on them, etc., stuck behind a string or a ribbon in front of a wall. The wall is usually wooden, as is also the case here; the texture of the wooden boards is carefully depicted, so as to give the eye of the viewer the impression that this is not a painted background, but real wood. Optical illusions of this kind were characteristic in particular for 18th century Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and France. In the first painting the horizontal band holds a sealed letter and a copy of the newspaper Prager Post Zeitungen, dated Saturday 18 October 1755 showing reports from America and Naples. A little lower, on the left, is the Neu Almanach or Zeit Kalender, also dated 1755. On the table we see two playing cards of the Italian type (an ace with a spada, and an ace with a double coppa) in the foreground, a small notebook and a table clock on a wooden pedestal.
The horizontal ribbon on the second painting holds a pair of spectacles on the right, while on the left is another copy of the Prager Post Zeitungen from Tuesday 5 March 1755 showing reports from Russia and Prussia; beside it is a sealed letter. On the left side of the table is the first part of a book, Der Europäische Niemand, dated 1755, at the right is a metal candlestick with a spent candle, in front of this a spectacle case, while in the middle is a Rococo table clock with lavish plant ornamentation, with volutes, a sickle and a broken obelisk. The latter two decorations obviously have allegorical significance, they remind us of death and that in time all things come to an end. A hint of satire lies in the title of the book, which is about the European Nobody and is a contrast to the almanacs of prominent and noble personalities. These two miscellanies were undoubtedly painted in Austria or in Bohemia and the date 1755 must be taken as the terminus post quem, although it may also denote the year in which the paintings were produced. Such pictures were widely known in the German-speaking area, e.g., in Basel, beginning with the quodlibet by Johann Rudolf Loutherburg, dated 1716, which is kept in the Historisches Museum in Basel, but they were usually not connected with still lifes. We cannot identify the painter of our canvases, also because of their modest quality, which would indicate the hand of an artisan rather than of an artist, for example in the clumsy perspectives of the tables and the clocks.
Restored: 1974, Štefan Hauko.
Provenance: Unknown.
Exhibitions: 1983, Ljubljana, No. 74; 1985, Belgrade, No. 39.
Lit.: Zeri [& Rozman] 1983, pp. 146–147, Cat. No. 74, Fig. 73.