In the apparently casual studio scene the painter brothers portray each other reciprocally. But the interior scene was in fact produced solely by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm. In clear reference to Fuseli’s self-portrait The artist in conversation with Johann Jacob Bodmer the brothers occupy the positions of the admired painter and philologist. Portraits of their Swiss idols Bodmer, Lavater, and Salomon Gessner hang on the wall; the painting in progress on the easel is a reference to J. H. W. Tischbein’s new concentration on history painting.