Sinning against the Sacred: On the Satirising Iconography of a Newly Identified Genre Scene by Peter Brandl and Christian Seybold’s Laughing Man with Stuffed Pork Stomach

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00023281%3A_____%2F25%3AN0000012" target="_blank" >RIV/00023281:_____/25:N0000012 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Sinning against the Sacred: On the Satirising Iconography of a Newly Identified Genre Scene by Peter Brandl and Christian Seybold’s Laughing Man with Stuffed Pork Stomach

Original language description

This article examines and reinterprets a genre painting in Dessau traditionally titled Wahrsagerin zeigt einem Mann die Zukunft, previously attributed to Johann Kupezky, Christian Seybold, and Jacob Samuel Beck. By comparing this work with Christian Seybold’s Laughing Man with Stuffed Pork Stomach in Budapest, the analysis reveals stylistic features which are rather consistent with Peter Brandl’s known oeuvre, including its dramatic expression, pronounced chiaroscuro, dynamic composition, and recurring motifs and gestures. The enigmatic iconography of the painting and the gender of its main figure are elucidated through engravings on Jewish life, particularly those by Bernard Picart, evident in Brandl’s depiction of attire and facial features. The article also reinterprets Seybold’s Laughing Man, traditionally regarded as a genre painting reminiscent of 17th-century Haarlem tavern scenes, proposing that this work represents a satirical paradox: a Jew consuming non-kosher pork, resonating with antisemitic Spottbilder traditions. Both works illustrate how they entertained while provoking thought through their intricate interplay of narrative elements and visual satire concerning religious superstition, prophecies, and taboos.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

C - Chapter in a specialist book

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60401 - Arts, Art history

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Book/collection name

Petr Brandl : nové kontexty

ISBN

978-80-7035-885-6

Number of pages of the result

29

Pages from-to

34-63

Number of pages of the book

319

Publisher name

Národní galerie v Praze

Place of publication

Praha

UT code for WoS chapter

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