Rococo portrait of a nobleman in a shepherd's costume

(1720 Heina – 1784 Hamburg) attributed; Rococo portrait of a nobleman in a shepherd’s costume. This full-length, almost life-size, exquisitely painted portrait depicts an aristocrat in a fantastical, fashionably playful outfit with the attributes of a shepherd: a staff, straw hat, small bag, and a cute little lamb. This is a nobly elegant, skillfully interpreted shepherd figure. He sits comfortably, legs crossed, on a stone before a broad, arcadian landscape traversed by a river. The vertical format, the motif, and the foreshortened legs indicate that this painting was once hung high on a wall in a country estate or castle. Thus, the patron portrayed himself with a touch of self-irony and in accordance with the fashionable pastoral style of the time. The artist paid less attention to the personality than to the costume, which would have been completely unsuitable for actual shepherd work in the countryside. The painting reflects the European idealization of pastoral life in the Rococo as a cultural phenomenon in literature, art, theater, and even in Meissen porcelain figurines, pastoral plays, and fashion. Some stylistic details point to a painter of the first generation of the Tischbein painting dynasty, most likely Johann Anton Tischbein, brother of the famous portraitist Johann Heinrich Tischbein. Oil on canvas, relined; 169.5 cm x 90.5 cm. In a frame. Accompanied by an expert opinion from Professor Dr. Helmut Börsch-Supan, Berlin, 20.01.2016. Attributed to Johann Anton Tischbein (1720-1784), oil on canvas. Accompanied by an expert opinion from Professor Dr. Helmut Börsch-Supan, Berlin, 2016.