The big city in Nikolaus Braun’s painting is colourful, noisy and full of contradictions. The artist depicts hives of activity inside the tall buildings. Life outside is bustling, too. A Madonna with halo and infant hurries across the street, while in the background a red devil leans against a church spire.
Braun’s view of Berlin is only naïve on the surface. Many eke out a meagre existence on the margins of society, like the beggar on the left. He is hungry despite the sides of pork hanging in the nearby window. The artificial limbs in the next shop recall the injuries inflicted on hundreds of thousands during the First World War.