Old Man with a Document (Quack)

The two signed pendants by Martin Dichtl, the painter working in Norimberk and Vienne in the second half of the 17th century, represent the so called Pittura popularesca, i.e. paintings which in their everyday scenes formed opposites to historical compositions. These works were designed as „exempla“ - moralities. The old man with a piece of paper is most probably a quack, who offers tinctures for home treatment and proves his false practice with a document provided with a seal, testifying to his veracity, in the spirit of the saying: Certainty gives hope – Dat certa fidem, referring to an emblem with this motto. The Old Woman with Eye Glasses and a Coin in the pendant painting is examining the genuineness of the coin or medal. Lying on the table in front of her is a cat urging caution, for eye glasses are not reliable enough. Comparison to this type of representation is provided by the painting, Seated Woman, 1668 (Nuremberg, Germanische Nationalmuseum). Dichtl’s works present a parallel to the production of Bernard Keilhau, called Monsu Bernardo and Pietro Bellotti, which testifies to the spread of this type of genre painting and its compositions.