Carl Spitzweg, from a wealthy Munich family that owned a wholesale spice business, initially followed his father’s wishes and pursued a career in pharmacy; he completed his studies with honors in 1832. The keen observational skills and analytical eye of a natural scientist are also evident in his incisive drawings and paintings. In addition, his musical and artistic talent—which distinguished him as a member of the educated upper middle class—allowed him, after receiving an inheritance that secured his financial future, to devote himself entirely to painting in the late 1830s. What sets his works apart is his outstanding narrative ability to capture the moment just before a plot twist and play with viewers’ expectations. This is also the case in our Ständchen (Serenade): Amid the winding, secretive passages of the shaded architecture—sparsely illuminated by moonlight and obscured by walls and bay windows—the enamored violinist has climbed to the top rung of the ladder. Once there, he realizes another suitor has likely already beaten him to his beloved, as he sees a shadowy figure in the tall window. Like a spotlight, the moon casts his shadow on the wall, making his plight even more evident: his shock at this humiliation makes him stagger as he struggles to maintain his balance; a fall backward—and the additional humiliation that would follow—seems imminent. The motif of the lovesick rooftop violinist appears early on in Spitzweg’s work, initially in a landscape format with similarities to the artist’s own features (Wichmann 1075), and continues to occupy him well into the 1870s with numerous imaginative variations and intensifications. In 1848, he noted in his diary: “Saw a nighttime violinist—just like in the old days!—Long shadows—points of light on the wall” (Wichmann, p. 180). At times, Spitzweg himself lived above the rooftops of Munich and may have witnessed quite a few such occurrences. Furthermore, these scenes align with Spitzweg’s interest in music and theater; one variation on the motif, for example, is the 1856 version of the “Spanish Serenade” (Bavarian State Painting Collections, Schack Collection, Munich), in which Spitzweg presumably depicts the opening scene of the opera “The Barber of Seville”. Spitzweg’s nephews by marriage were members and prominent soloists of the Bavarian Court Orchestra, led by his uncle Joseph Moralt, who performed in the orchestra during a production of this opera. The enamored violinist or the serenade may be considered a favorite and personal motif of Spitzweg’s, rendered here in the silvery blue tones of moonlit towns so characteristic of Spitzweg’s night scenes. [KT)