Gallant Scene

The Austrian Franz Christoph Janneck is considered one of the master of baroque fine painting.

In this painting, scholarship – represented by the old man and the book lying on the ground – is literally benumbed with wine. The young couple, now unsupervised, are encouraged by an old matchmaker to indulge in flirtation. Sensuous motifs, such as the small dog on the far right, the entwined figures on the fountain in the background and the statue of Venus in the garden, indicate the couple's incipient amorous play.
Here Janneck used copper, his favourite picture support, to lend brilliance to the colours.