Eberhard Wächter
Eberhard Wächter (1762 Balingen - Stuttgart 1852) - Belisar as a beggar.
Oil on canvas, relined. (Circa 1797). 60.5 x 76.1 cm. With two red paint seals verso on stretcher. Framed.
Flavius Belisarius was an Eastern Roman general of Thracian origin who served as a general under Emperor Justinian I. The legend of Belisarius, who was blinded and ended up as a beggar, found a lively reception in the visual arts, but also in music with the opera "Belisario" by Gaetano Donizetti (1836). Eberhard Wächter, who at times led a materially deprived life himself, shows Belisar surrounded by onlookers who are outraged by his stoic nature and mock him by asking for alms from the dispossessed man.
Provenance:
Tajan (S.V.V.), Paris, auction, 17.10.2003, lot 62;
Hampel, Munich, auction, 8.12.2006, lot 375;
Fischer, Lucerne, auction, 14.11.2007, lot 1049;
Private collection, Hesse.
Taxation: Regelbesteuerte (VAT: Regular Taxation)
