Abstract (englisch)

The first and second school of Fontainebleau produced not only a significant number of well-known allegorical paintings but also examples that still resist a convincing art historical interpretation. One of these enigmatic and still unattributed paintings is located in the Picture Gallery of Sanssouci (fig. 1). In three chapters, this essay attempts to offer a new approach to this painting: Firstly, I will focus on the allegorical ambiguity of the painting that seems to be a characteristic for works produced during that era. In a second step, the implicit allegorical topography will help to find new insights into the subject of the painting. Finally, the conditioning of the viewer, or the topographical ‘period eye’ – to take up and develop on the concept of Michael Baxandall – will help to find further explanations for the composition of this panel in Potsdam.