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Adapted from the Christie's website:
Wenceslas Wehrlin - or Venceslao Verlin, as he was called in Italy - was a little-known but talented artist known to have died in Florence in 1780. He is generally believed to have been Viennese and born about 1740, though an inscription on the reverse of his self-portrait in the Uffizi, if correct, would indicate that he was born in Turin in 1725. Various members of his family certainly seem to have served at the court in Turin, and he is likely to have begun his career there before moving to Florence.
Wenceslas Wehrlin - or Venceslao Verlin, as he was called in Italy - was a little-known but talented artist known to have died in Florence in 1780. He is generally believed to have been Viennese and born about 1740, though an inscription on the reverse of his self-portrait in the Uffizi, if correct, would indicate that he was born in Turin in 1725. Various members of his family certainly seem to have served at the court in Turin, and he is likely to have begun his career there before moving to Florence.
It's more than probable that the male sitter in this work was an Austrian dignitary at the grand ducal court in Florence; the letter on his desk is addressed to the Emperor, including his further titles of Archduke of Austria and King of Bohemia: "A Sua Maestà L’Imper... Arcidu... Boem... a."
The portrait hanging above the mantelpiece in this lively scene is that of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor's brother and eventual successor Leopold was, as Grand Duke of Tuscany, Wehrlin's most important patron; a group portrait of the grand ducal family dated 1773 is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
The painting was auctioned at Christie's in December of 2008.
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