Carl Schleicher

[6] Disciple of the Austrian painter Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller,[2] Schleicher developed his work in costumbrist style, mainly in Vienna between 1859 and 1871.

[15] The anecdotal nature of Schleicher's painting is in turn evident in works such as Thief in the artist's studio, Long live the wine, The broken container, A rare piece and The winning hand .

The figure of the Christian priest is introduced individually in Old Man Writing a Diary and is taken up in group terms in The Chess Players, where a Benedictine monk measures himself against a Dominican one, while another, a Franciscan, observes the game between the two.

The exchange of ideas and interpretations between the rabbis and talmudists was a topic to which Schleicher dedicated a considerable number of oil paintings.

Loaded with anecdotal material, such paintings constitute a valuable record of the practices and customs of Ashkenazi Jews in Europe, whose culture and heritage are known as Yiddishkayt.

Schleicher's paintings are characterized by being not only descriptive, but also by sharply capturing the atmosphere of study that governed the life of the Talmudists: seriousness and dedication, with interesting dialogues and surprising ideas, but also problematic contradictions, endless arguments and humor.