With his radiant, porcelain skin and fluttering, red cloak, Apollo, the god of music, gestures to Midas, the king of Phyrigia. Midas, with donkey's ears, sits beside Pan, the wild god of shepherds and flocks, who blows on his reed pipes. A small man with legs and horns of a goat, Pan mischievously looks out at the viewer while being observed by a pair of fleshy nymphs and a group of bearded men. The intent look on the figures' faces, particularly that of the man with the laurel crown, suggests a moment of consequence.
The painting depicts a story from Ovid's Metamorphoses about a musical contest between Apollo and Pan, conflating the entire narrative into one scene. Pan audaciously challenged the god of music to the competition and blew a rustic melody on his pipes that delighted King Midas. Then, Apollo played his lyre so beautifully that the mountain god, Timolus, who judged the contest, pictured here holding a staff, declared Apollo the victor. Midas disagreed and Apollo gave Midas a donkey's ears for his "poor" judgment. In the Gallery's painting, Pan is shown playing his flute, which indicates the contest has only begun, yet Midas already has donkey ears.
Füger was born in Heilbronn. He became a pupil of Nicolas Guibal in Stuttgart and of Adam Friedrich Oeser in Leipzig. Afterward, he travelled and spent some time in Rome and Naples, where he painted frescoes in the Palazzo Caserta. On his return to Vienna he was appointed court painter, professor, and vice-director of the Academy, and in 1806 director of the Belvedere Gallery.
Among his historical paintings are: The Farewell of Coriolanus (Czernin Gallery, Vienna), Allegory on the Peace of Vienna (1801), The Death of Germanicus (1789), The Assassination of Caesar, and Bathsheba (Budapest Gallery). Among his portraits are those of the Emperor Joseph II, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Wilhelmine of Württemberg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Queen Caroline of Naples,[2] and Horatio Nelson, who sat for him in Vienna in 1800 (National Portrait Gallery, London).
He painted in the classic style of Louis David and Anton Raphael Mengs and was inclined to be theatrical.
Füger was also a teacher; among his pupils was Gustav Philipp Zwinger, and Franciszek Ksawery Lampi.
He died in Vienna.
