Johann Georg Platzer

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The thin copper panels are in good condition with no damages or deformations. The paint layers are well preserved, stable and flat, and the paint is crisp and un- abraded on both. The colours are strong and saturate satisfactorily. Both paintings have a handful of minor retouchings scattered across the surface, the retouchings to 'The Interruption' are mainly confined to the edges, however. There is the remains of an older varnish present and both paintings would benefit tonally with its removal. Offered in carved and gilt wood frames in good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Johann Georg Platzer was born into a family of minor painters in the South Tyrol, studying first in Innsbruck with his step-father, the history painter Stephan Kessler (d. 1721), before completing his training with his uncle Jakob Christoph Platzer, the court painter in Passau. In circa 1726 Platzer, still in his early twenties, travelled to Vienna in search of his fortune, and enrolled at the academy there in 1728. Upon his arrival he became a friend of the contemporary painter Franz Christoph Janneck (1703-1761). Both Janneck and Platzer were to produce exquisite jewel-like copper panels with an astonishing attention to detail - such as the present very well preserved example - which are reminiscent of the degree of skill and polish of the 17th-century Leiden fijnschilders. Before long Platzer had become the most fashionable painter in the city and was receiving numerous commissions from the Viennese nobility. Less prolific than Janneck, Platzer is considered the finer of the two artists, although his career was affected by his return in 1739 to the Tyrol due to ill health (still only thirty-five years old, he was probably suffering from Parkinson's disease).

The present theme of deceipt and lust is a motif which Platzer returned to on numerous occassions during his career; another very fine example was offered in these Rooms on 8 December 2004, lot 50.

We are grateful to Dr. Christina Pucher for endorsing the attribution of these coppers to Platzer on the basis of photographs.