The intercepted love letter
Carl Spitzweg, 1860
In this genre scene, Carl Spitzweg presents a domestic episode with humour: a student, recognisable by his characteristic cap, lowers a sealed love letter on a thread from his room toward the open window of the apartment below. There a young woman, absorbed in her sewing, does not notice anything, while another woman beside her, probably an aunt or governess, spots the letter and stares in astonishment. The irony of a message about to be intercepted is one of the qualities that define Spitzweg's style. The sand-coloured facade, richly articulated, and the slanting shadows suggest a town of narrow streets. The small details work as a quiet commentary: the birdcage in the foreground facing the young woman's window, the Phoenix Insurance fire-insurance plaque near the letter, and the pair of pigeons preening each other on a ledge all allude, in a subtle way, to the two young lovers and to the watchful eyes around them.
- Painter
- Carl Spitzweg
- Date
- 1860
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 54 × 32 cm
- Museum
- Museum Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt
- Genre
- genre art
- Depicts
- love letter, human
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