Naumann’s works bear witness to his admiration for the great master and namesake Karl Spitzweg (1808-1885), who was 6 years his junior. Minutely observed and infused with subtle humor, Spitzweg’s genre paintings were very popular not only with buyers but also with painters who regarded them as a new genre worth exploring. After completing his studies at the Königsberg Academy, Naumann settled in Munich where he is likely to have encountered the busy, widely traveling Spitzweg in person. Like Spitzweg, Naumann often depicted society’s misfits succumbing to their pet hobby, such as the botanist or the alchemist experimenting in the attic. In the scene shown here, a distinguished gentleman wearing a housecoat, glasses and a pleading look climbs onto the garden wall in an attempt to coax his little yellow canary back into its cage. Silhouetted against the labyrinthine backyard architecture, the spires of the Church of Our Lady in the background locate the scene in the town of Munich. Against the ambient city backdrop, the artist pays meticulous attention to details, such as the pattern of the silky coat and the texture of the physical objects, displaying his outstanding technical skills in the field of genre painting. [KT]