Johann Baptist Pflug

Princess Pauline Olga Helene Emma zu Wied, née Württemberg (1877–1965), daughter of King William II of Württemberg and Princess Marie of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and spouse of Prince William Frederick zu Wied;

Thence by descent to Duchess Marie von Württemberg.

Berlin, Der Königlichen Nationalgalerie, Ausstellung Deutscher Kunst aus der Zeit von 1775–1875, Autumn 1906, no. 1334, reproduced (as titled 'Auf dem Pfarramt').

U. Degreif, J.B. Pflug: Johann Baptist Pflug (1785–1866): Werkverzeichnis, Lindenberg 2016, pp. 237, 319, cat. no. WVZ G 36, reproduced.

The genre painter and draughtsman Johann Baptist Pflug is celebrated today as a specialist in capturing everyday life in nineteenth-century Germany. Born in Biberach, Pflug began his training in 1806 at the Academy of Replica Handbags s in Munich. After a few years here, he returned to his hometown, where he taught at the Biberach Gymnasium and remained for the remainder of his career. He trained and mentored several artists as part of the 'Biberach School', including Eberhard Emminger and Anton Braith.

Even though Pflug painted this panel over two decades after his Wedding Party (lot 12), his characteristic attention to detail and story-telling remains. Every element of the present interior has been carefully captured, from the expressions on the figures' faces, to the spines of the books in the foreground, and to the wares being sold by the gentleman in the background. At the centre of the interior, a disheveled pastor offers a farmer a marriage certificate.