The Poor Poet

Carl Spitzweg depicted this starving writer in his cramped garret room in 1839. The poet lies on a mattress against the wall, wearing a dressing gown and sleeping cap, holding manuscript pages on his knees. An umbrella hangs from the rafters to catch water dripping through the roof.

The painting likely references Munich poet Mathias Etenhueber, who struggled with fading fame and poverty. Critics at the 1839 Munich Kunstverein exhibition attacked its ironic portrayal. A survey later found it one of Germans' favorite paintings, second only to the Mona Lisa. One version was stolen from Berlin in 1989 and never recovered. Now at the Neue Pinakothek in Munich.