![Hans Thoma - Summer [1872] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7180/6822812418_21c2ccceff.jpg)
The glowing deep blue sky lends the painterly opulence of this hillside meadow and trees an air of unreality, and it is only on closer observation that we see that the couple with a lute in the grass are wearing Renaissance clothing: thus the painting is clearly more than a mere portrayal of nature. The dancing cupids in the sky, which may at first pass for clouds, add to the dream-like quality of the picture.
Hans Thoma (Bernau, Black Forest, October 2, 1839 - Karlsruhe, November 7, 1924) was a German painter. In spite of his studies under various masters, his art has little in common with modern ideas, and is formed partly by his early impressions of the simple idyllic life of his native district, partly by his sympathy with the early German masters. Many of his pictures have found their way into two private collections in Liverpool.
[Oil on canvas, 76 x 104 cm]