Otto Linnertz (XIX-XX), after - Ritratto di ecclesiastico con pipa

Splendid and intense period portrait depicting a clergyman intent on smoking his pipe, executed in oil in 1943 according to the model of Otto Linnertz. The painting bears in the upper left a clearly visible signature "Cop. v. Linnertz / 1943". The designation "Cop." (from German Copiert von / Copie nach) officially certifies that the work is a high-academic study copy executed by Linnertz based on a famous subject from 19th-century Austro-German realist and genre painting (a current associated with masters Carl Kronberger and Eduard von Grützner). Linnertz, registered in art archives between 1930 and 1963 and also known as the court photographer at Braunfels, demonstrates in this panel an extraordinary technical mastery in reproducing the complex expressiveness of the face, the details of the wrinkles, and the chiaroscuro rendering of the physiognomy. The strong psychological imprint of the subject and the warm intimate atmosphere make this painting a piece of great charm for lovers of Central European genre painting.