The Pleasures of the Seasons: Autumn
On View In:
Gallery 308
Artist:   Johann Georg Platzer (or Plazer)  
Title:   The Pleasures of the Seasons: Autumn  
Date:   c. 1730  
Medium:   Oil on copper, mounted with a masonite backing  
Dimensions:   15 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 54.61 cm) (panel) 19 3/4 x 26 1/2 in. (50.17 x 67.31 cm) (outer frame)  
Credit Line:   Gift of Mrs. Walter H. Ude  
Location:   Gallery 308  

Autumn is the season of Bacchus, god of wine, shown here as a life-size sculpture holding a chalice and a staff bearing clusters of grapes. In the right distance, peasants labor in the vineyards. Drinking revelers and an overturned wooden bucket, from which luscious fruit spills onto the ground, manifest the bounty of autumn. Autumn is also the season of the hunt. At the right, a young hunter offers game to a seated maiden, who responds by giving him a bird she has taken from its cage. The caged bird is a well-established symbol of virginity, its escape from the cage indicating the fallen status of its owner. Platzer alludes here to the dangers of intemperance, which can lead to uncontrollable passion, however subtly masked by elegant attire and graceful actions.

Artist/Creator(s)     
Name:   Platzer (or Plazer), Johann Georg  
Nationality:   Austrian  
Life Dates:   Austrian, 1704 - 1760  
 

Object Description  
  
Inscriptions:   Signature LL (under the basket of fruit): [J.G.Platzer]  
Classification:   Paintings  
Physical Description:   Allegory. Rococo.  
Creation Place:   Europe, Austria, , ,  
Accession #:   64.18  
Owner:   The Minneapolis Institute of Arts