JOHANN ULRICH MAYR (Augsburg 1630 – Augsburg 1704)
Allegory of Greed (or Reality)
Inscribed in the lower right in Italian: Jo voglio dir se ben non son chiamato se tú non hai denar non sei stimato (I would like to say, even though I have not been asked to do so, that if you don’t have money you are not taken into consideration.)
oil on an unlined canvas
30.9 x 37.4 inches (78.5 x 95 cm.)
WITHOUT MONEY YOU ARE NOTHING
Encyclopedia Britannica defines an allegory in art as “a symbolic fictional narrative that conveys a meaning not explicitly set forth in the narrative.” So, this could be interpreted as the idea of adding intellectual depth to an image. However, the literary world suggests that an allegory can be used as a way for the artist (writer) to distance themselves from the issues they are trying to highlight, especially when those issues are a strong critique of society. But could an artist use an allegory as a slight towards an employer or even family?
Johann Ulrich Mayr was born into a wealthy merchant family in Augsburg. Von Sandrart records that Mayr entered Rembrandt’s workshop in Amsterdam at around the age of fourteen, and later studied with Jacob Jordaens in Antwerp, followed by trips to England and Italy. By the time Mayr reached his thirties he was a celebrated portrait painter in the service of notably the electoral court of Bavaria as well as the Viennese aristocracy. He returned to Augsburg in the early 1660s and in 1662 married Anna Maria Hosenestlin, the daughter of one of Augsburg’s richest families.
It is thought that Mayr painted this picture An Allegory of Greed (or Reality) around 1670. By this time, he was a well-established painter and several years into his marriage. Artists were still not quite held in the status they are today – and definitely not in the status of a wealthy merchant or a member of aristocracy. The concept of artist as genius was progressing, but the 16th & 17th centuries were times of transition from guild based to master-craftsman becoming sought after by their own names. And although artists were moving to more secular subjects, they often referenced deadly sins in allegorical form, so on the surface this painting doesn’t seem so unusual.
However, as mentioned Mayr was relatively well-to-do and he was successful, so what would prompt this successful, wealthy artist to underline the immorality of coveting wealth. The inscription on the painting reads “I would like to say, even though I have not been asked to do so, that if you don’t have money you are not taken into consideration.” One wonders if Mayr might have been feeling stifled by his in-laws, his patrons, or his own success. Viewers can take this painting at the face value of an allegory of greed but looking deeper this feels more like an outlet for frustration. A personal statement, not about the societal judgement of the poor or the dismissive attitude towards people considered uninteresting or unimportant- as Mayr was neither, but as a personal comment on his own issues within his own family and career.
Many of us can relate to feeling inadequate in the eyes of someone else - a successful business acquaintance or an in-law, not living up to the expectations that others set for you! It feels brave and so personal for a successful, well-to-do artist whose patrons were affluent nobles and whose in-laws were wealthy merchants, to write an inscription of this magnitude, laying out his own insecurities for all the world to see under the guise of an allegory. There is something amusing about the idea that as much as the world has progressed, people are fundamentally the same – social status, financial pressure, difficult in-laws- 500 years on we are still occupied with these things.
We will never truly know the way that Mayr intended his painting to be understood or who the message was aimed at. We do know that Mayr received more formal accolades than Rembrandt during his lifetime and two years before his death was the eighth richest man in Augsburg. Not too bad for a person who felt if you don’t have money, you are not respected. Seems like he wrapped up both definitions of allegory in one work- a fictional narrative and distancing himself from his own issues to make a statement on society. Pretty impressive for someone who is worried about not being taken into consideration.
18 May 2023
For more information on this painting, click here.