Lot 63: Ription Franz Bernhardt the Younger (Vienna 1800 -

Ription Franz Bernhardt the Younger (Vienna 1800 - 1860) Hercules at the Crossroads, signed and dated at lower centre F Bernhardt 1851, oil on canvas, 147 x 123 cm, beautiful original gilded Neo-Classicist frame, (Wo) Provenance: South-German private collection Franz Bernhardt the Younger was a history painter and portraitist and the son of the portrait painter Franz Bernhardt the Elder. Aged 12, he was admitted to the Vienna Academy in 1812 and attended with brief interruptions until 1817. Between about 1820 and 1847 he used to display his works in the Academy's exhibibitions. At the crossroads, Hercules met two beautiful women: Virtue and Vice. The first radiated integrity and purity and the second, pride and voluptuousness. She offered to be the young man's friend and promised to show him the most convenient way: a life full of lust and pleasures, without labour and troubles. The first woman offered to show him a steep and rocky path, at the end of which he would be generously rewarded. She said that the gods did not grant you anything without labour and exertion: there would be no love from friends if you did not do them any favours; the people would not admire you if you did not serve them; no crop without seeds; no victory without fighting; no self-control without inurement. Hercules chose the hard and painful path. Vice is accompanied by her atttribute, the snake, while Virtue is accompanied by the owl as a symbol of wisdom. On the hill in the background appears the destination and goal chosen by Hercules, the Temple of Vitrue.