Rudolf von Arthaber and his Children Rudolf, Emilie, and Gustav

An idyllic family scene as if from a picture book: The father, wealthy Viennese industrialist Rudolf von Arthaber (1795–1867), has placed his arm around his daughter Emilie. His older son Rudolf is sitting on the floor while the younger son Gustav leans against his father’s knee. The picture was painted in Amerling’s studio and everything is a choreographed arrangement: the figures, the table, plants, and the sofa, above which hangs the portrait of the children’s mother, who had died in 1833. And the scene would not be complete without the so-called Viennese Shawl, for which Arthaber’s firm was famous, draped over the sofa’s armrest on the left, behind Emilie. But the family seem to have been viewed through a keyhole. The figures are unaware they are being observed and not one of them looks out of the picture and connects with the viewer.

Credit: 1922 Legat Karoline Maresch