The Styrian Table of Peoples (German: Steirische Völkertafel) is an early 18th-century oil painting which shows stereotypical depictions of 10 different European peoples above a table of their purported characteristics. The painting provides an example of historic ethnic stereotypes.
Origin edit
The painter of the Völkertafel is unknown, as is its exact date of creation, but it is assumed to have been painted in the Styria region of Austria early 1700s.[1][2][3] There are at least six copies, and it is not possible to tell which is the original. The Völkertafel was likely based on a 1720 engraving by Joseph Friedrich Leopold.[4]
Of the 6 known extant copies, 3 are held at the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art in Vienna, and the other 3 are held at museums in Bad Aussee, Moosham and Kloster Machern.
Content and analysis edit
The top of the table shows 10 figures, which correspond the countries of Spain, France, Italy, Germany, England, Sweden, Poland, Hungarian, Russia and Turkey/Greece. The table shows 17 characteristics such as manners, intellect or vices and charts how the people of the 10 nations correspond to these characteristics. The descriptions are harsher on the right side of the table, with Turkey/Greece shown in the most negative light.[4]
The table below shows the characteristics assigned to each nation in the Völkertafel, translated into English:
| Spaniard | Frenchman | Italian | German | Englishman | Swede | Pole | Hungarian | Russian | Turk or Greek | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearance | Haughty | Frivolous | Treacherous | Openhearted | Agreeable | Strong and tall | Boorish | Disloyal | Malicious | (Changes) like April weather |
| Character and personality | Wondrous | Friendly and talkative | Jealous | Quite good | Charming | Cruel | More cruel | Most cruel | Really Hungarian | A lying devil |
| Intellect | Clever and wise | Cautious | Sagacious | Shrewd | Graceful | Adamant | Disdainful | More disdainful | Nothing | Pretentious |
| Traits | Manly | Childish | Opportunistic | Imitative | Womanly | Inscrutable | Mediocre | Bloodthirsty | Endlessly rude | Tender |
| Sciences | Theology | Warfare | Canon law | Jurisprudence | Geography | Liberal arts | Languages | Latin | Greek | Political treachery |
| National dress | Respectable | Variable | Modest | Imitates others | After French fashion | Leather | Long coats | Multicoloured | Furs | Effeminate |
| Vices | Vain | Deceitful | Covetous | Prodigal | Restless | Superstitious | Hoggish | Treacherous | More treacherous | Most treacherous |
| Preferences | Honour and Glory | War | Gold | Drinking | Pleasures | Expensive food | Nobility | Rebellion | Beating | Narcissism |
| Diseases | Constipation | Syphilis | Plague | Podagra | Consumption | Dropsy | Diarrhea | Epilepsy | Whooping cough | Exhaustion |
| Their countries | Fertile | Well-cultivated | Beautiful and delightful | Good | Fertile | Mountainous | Wooded | Rich in gold and fruit | Icy | Pleasant |
| War virtues | Generous | Cunning | Cautious | Invincible | Heroic at sea | Undaunted | Impetuous | Insurgent | Cumbersome | Lazy |
| Piety | Outstanding | Good | A tad better | Very pious | Changeable like the moon | Zealous | Believes all sorts of things | Energetic | An infidel | The same |
| Their master | A monarch | A king | A patriarch | An emperor | Now one, now another | Liberal | An elected one | A chosen one | A volunteer | A tyrant |
| Superfluity in | Fruit | Commodities | Wine | Grain | Pastures | Iron-ore mines | Furs | Everything | Bees | Soft things |
| Pastimes | Games | Cheating | Gossiping | Drinking | Working | Eating | Arguing | Idleness | Sleeping | Being ill |
| Equivalent animal | Elephant | Fox | Lynx | Lion | Horse | Ox | Bear | Wolf | Donkey | Cat |
| Lives end | In bed | In battle | In the monastery | In wine | In water | On the ground | In the stable | By sabre | In the snow | In fraud |
References edit
- ^ Paulus 2020, p. 82.
- ^ Kordel 2021, p. 37.
- ^ Janžekovič 2022, p. 6.
- ^ a b Janžekovič 2022, p. 7.
Sources edit
- Janžekovič, Izidor (2022). "Ethnic 'stereotypes' in early modern Europe:Russian and Ottoman national costumes". History and Anthropology: 1–25. doi:10.1080/02757206.2022.2132494. hdl:20.500.14018/13905.
- Kordel, Jacek (2021). "Boläck: Noch wilder als der grausame Schwöth. Über die Vorbilder und Quellen des Polenbildes in der Steirischen Völkertafel". Österreichische Zeitschrift für Volkskunde. 1 (124): 37–64.
- Paulus, Dagmar (2020). "Femininity, Nation, and Nature: Fanny Tarnow's Letters to Friends from a Journey to Petersburg (1819)". In Paulus, Dagmar; Pilsworth, Ellen (eds.). Nationalism Before the Nation State : Literary Constructions of Inclusion, Exclusion, and Self-Definition (1756-1871). Brill. pp. 77–96. ISBN 9789004366831.