Beginning in the 1860s, Spitzweg began painting nocturnal scenes, studying the effects of light in small towns bathed in soft moonlight, often under a starry sky. Various motifs and figures populate the nocturnal setting: the secrecy of dark alleys provides the backdrop for rendezvous and moonlit serenades beneath the beloved's balcony, while roaming night guards clatter through the streets; the scenes also include a few fantastical moments, such as the witches’ ride or the castle ghost. Spitzweg thus offers the viewer a glimpse into a world that is otherwise hidden—a world of furtive activity, stealth, and longing in the dark corners of the towns. A recurring figure in these scenes is the night watchman, who roams the deserted alleys alone. When reading Spitzweg’s letters—often written late in the evening to his brother Eduard—the night watchman’s shouts repeatedly emerge as a disruptive and comical element. Thus, in 1838, Spitzweg—who was apparently somewhat sensitive to this unnecessary nocturnal noise—bid farewell to Nuremberg: “Well then, good night—it’s 10 o’clock here; the night watchman is shouting, I swear, right under my window” (quoted from: Siegfried Wichmann, Carl Spitzweg, Stuttgart 2002, p. 26).
In Romantic literature, the figure appears in Bonaventura’s satirical tales from 1805, in which the protagonist encounters all sorts of curious characters in his “Night Watches.” Wandering alone, armed with his halberd and lantern, he observes these scenes while everyone else sleeps. In Spitzweg’s work, too, he is one of the eccentric figures that follow a different rhythm than the ordinary, respectable citizen. Most of the time, however, he is left to his own boredom and fatigue, since his actual task—to ensure peace and order—seems relatively useless in the staid tranquility of small towns. At times, Spitzweg even depicts him asleep, meaning the shouted announcement of the hour—which would otherwise disturb the sleepers’ peace—is absent. Unlike in previous depictions of this theme, our scene is not set in a small German town but in a rural setting. Even during his stay in the small town of Schliersee in 1855, Spitzweg was not spared the nightly clamor, as he cannot help but mention. In the small village square, surrounded by farmhouses, the simple wooden fountain ripples quietly away. In the little village, everything seems to be bathed in peaceful tranquility—the only two potential troublemakers are the dog and cat, who pause briefly to look at one another but will likely decide in the next second to ignore each other deliberately; so deeply does the scene—bathed in milky moonlight against the cloudy sky—radiate calm and peace. Barely disturbing the harmonious play of light in the painting because of its tiny size, a red lantern glows, hidden from view; in the distance, twilight is already gently setting in, signaling the end of the night watchman’s shift. Spitzweg’s finely woven narrative talent is especially evident in this nocturnal scene; it speaks through barely perceptible hints and connections, rendered with artistic refinement, well-placed effects, and subtle, highly nuanced expressiveness. [KT]