High Society The Portraits of Franz Xaver Winterhalter
High Society: The Portraits of Franz Xaver Winterhalter casts new light on the German-born Winterhalter (1805–1873), who was the most renowned portraitist of the courts of Europe during his day. A well-connected painter, Winterhalter expertly captured the refinement and opulence of his aristocratic sitters. Soon after his appointment as the de facto court painter to King Louis-Philippe, Winterhalter became in demand globally. Yet it was in Paris, during the Second Empire (1852–1870), that Winterhalter hit his mark. He painted supremely fashionable portraits, just when he was reaching the height of his artistic powers. Numerous exquisite paintings that symbolize the entire era are brought together in this richly illustrated volume.
High Society
The Portraits of
Franz Xaver Winterhalter
arnoldsche
ISBN 978-3-89790-448-4
Arnoldsche Art Publishers in association with
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Augustinermuseum, Städtische Museen Freiburg Palais de Compiègne
Franz Xaver Winterhalter and the Black Forest Tilmann von Stockhausen
Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s meteoric rise from humble peas ant origins to celebrated painter status at European courts has invariably given wings to the imagination of anyone who is aware of it, and it indeed has continued to shape the artist’s image to the present day. However, the story of this painter’s social advancement is definitely typical of what was then still a backwater in the Black Forest mountains. Peasants’ sons often went out from the region into the world to seek their fortunes. A new era was dawning for the rural Black Forest village of Menzenschwand when Franz Xaver Winterhalter was born as the seventh child of Eva Mayer and Fidel Hermann Winterhalter on April 20, 1805 (fig. 1).1 For centu ries the village had belonged to the nearby Jesuit monastery of St. Blasien, which owned a great deal of land that was tilled and cultivated by locals. The village of Menzenschwand is set in a gently sloping valley at the foot of the Feldberg, the highest peak in the Black Forest. The valley opens to the south toward St. Blasien, which is just over five and a half miles away, and merges with the Bernauer Alb just before St. Blasien. At an elevation of just over 2,950 feet, the valley and the surrounding slopes
1 Family home of Franz Xaver Winterhalter in Menzenschwand, ca. 1900, Gemeinde Menzenschwand.
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2 J. Martin Morat, Menzenschwand Hinterdorf, ca. 1860, private collection.
are only suitable for pastoral farming and forestry because the winters are long and cold. By the late eighteenth century, the slopes had been almost completely deforested because lumber was an important source of revenue, and wood was also needed for processing industries such as charcoal- burning (fig. 2). In 1807 St. Blasien Monastery was finally secularized. The last monks left St. Blasien for St. Paul in Carinthia. The exten sive monastery domains extended to the Grand Duchy of Baden, which had only been founded in 1806.2 The Winter halter family may possibly have had quite a close link with the monastery because, according to a story handed down in the family, Winterhalter’s grandmother became pregnant out of wedlock. The identity of the father of the child remained a secret. She ultimately married an older man and was given by an anonymous benefactor a new house in Menzenschwand. Winterhalter’s descendants report that the painter’s grand mother would regularly walk from Menzenschwand to St. Blasien to deliver milk and butter to the monastery.3
3 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Self-Portrait of the Artist with Brother, 1840, oil on canvas, 84.5 × 71.5 cm, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, inv. no. 2461.
Franz Xaver Winterhalter and the Black Forest Tilmann von Stockhausen
Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s meteoric rise from humble peas ant origins to celebrated painter status at European courts has invariably given wings to the imagination of anyone who is aware of it, and it indeed has continued to shape the artist’s image to the present day. However, the story of this painter’s social advancement is definitely typical of what was then still a backwater in the Black Forest mountains. Peasants’ sons often went out from the region into the world to seek their fortunes. A new era was dawning for the rural Black Forest village of Menzenschwand when Franz Xaver Winterhalter was born as the seventh child of Eva Mayer and Fidel Hermann Winterhalter on April 20, 1805 (fig. 1).1 For centu ries the village had belonged to the nearby Jesuit monastery of St. Blasien, which owned a great deal of land that was tilled and cultivated by locals. The village of Menzenschwand is set in a gently sloping valley at the foot of the Feldberg, the highest peak in the Black Forest. The valley opens to the south toward St. Blasien, which is just over five and a half miles away, and merges with the Bernauer Alb just before St. Blasien. At an elevation of just over 2,950 feet, the valley and the surrounding slopes
1 Family home of Franz Xaver Winterhalter in Menzenschwand, ca. 1900, Gemeinde Menzenschwand.
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2 J. Martin Morat, Menzenschwand Hinterdorf, ca. 1860, private collection.
are only suitable for pastoral farming and forestry because the winters are long and cold. By the late eighteenth century, the slopes had been almost completely deforested because lumber was an important source of revenue, and wood was also needed for processing industries such as charcoal- burning (fig. 2). In 1807 St. Blasien Monastery was finally secularized. The last monks left St. Blasien for St. Paul in Carinthia. The exten sive monastery domains extended to the Grand Duchy of Baden, which had only been founded in 1806.2 The Winter halter family may possibly have had quite a close link with the monastery because, according to a story handed down in the family, Winterhalter’s grandmother became pregnant out of wedlock. The identity of the father of the child remained a secret. She ultimately married an older man and was given by an anonymous benefactor a new house in Menzenschwand. Winterhalter’s descendants report that the painter’s grand mother would regularly walk from Menzenschwand to St. Blasien to deliver milk and butter to the monastery.3
3 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Self-Portrait of the Artist with Brother, 1840, oil on canvas, 84.5 × 71.5 cm, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, inv. no. 2461.
up imperfections and confined bulges, whereas necklines were wide and plunging and often lavishly trimmed. The status of fashion as the sole means of self-expression available to women is clearly evident in Winterhalter’s work. The portrait painter from the Black Forest mastered one skill to perfection: rendering fine textiles and other materials, such as gleaming silks, airy tulle, and iridescent pearls. Two oil sketches that are still owned by Winterhalter’s descen dants attest to the artist’s intensive study of folds and the qualities of materials (figs. 2, 3). Impressive examples of how he put that ability to use are the portraits of Anna, Princess of Hesse (1836–1918), painted in 1858 (fig. 1, cat. 64), and
2 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Study of Drapery, 1, ca. 1830/40, oil and pencil on paper, 10 × 14 1⁄5 in. (25.6 × 36 cm), private collection of Thomas C. Bender.
3 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Study of Drapery, 2, ca. 1830/40, oil and pencil on paper, 10 × 14 in. (25.2 × 35,6 cm), private collection of Thomas C. Bender.
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Princess Leonilla of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1816–1918) painted in the 1840s (fig. 4). Whereas Anna is enveloped in a cloud of tulle, Leonilla is depicted wearing a black lace scarf and a silk dress decorated with gold thread—painted with consummate skill by Winterhalter. The artist has deftly arranged and staged the two women’s facial expressions, pos ture, clothing, and jewelry. His professional handling of the properties of materials is also shown in his drawings—for example in a portrait of a lady in Spanish costume (1849), in which Winterhalter has captured the almost transparent, delicate veils worn by the sitter with a few sketchy strokes of his pencil (fig. 5). Contemporary critics sarcastically de scribed his painting as “peinture decorative,” and not without reason,14 and Winterhalter himself as “peintr[e] à la mode,” a fashionable painter.15 Unsurprisingly, some women are even said to have lamented while eyeing Winterhalter paintings at the Salon that it was such a great pity “the address of the dressmaker who made the dress the sitter is wearing is not given in the catalogue.”16 Winterhalter also had a feeling for “the right” pose and composition as a whole. It is highly likely that the artist made suggestions about materials, colors, and accessories. He def initely knew what would flatter the ladies who sat for portraits and what sort of clothing was best suited to any particular purpose (be it an official state portrait or an unofficial paint ing to be hung in a home). In addition, he added just the right amount of idealism, succeeding in making his sitters look like themselves despite certain beautification measures he resorted to as needed, especially when a woman’s appear ance had to meet the highest standards. The subject of makeup, which by the nineteenth century was associated solely with women, caused as much agitation as “fashion” did. Applying cosmetics covers up irregularities, conceals imperfections, and perfects one’s appearance—another obli gation imposed on women so that they could fulfil their role in “seductively histrionic pretense.”17 The similarity between applying cosmetics and painting a portrait has always been discussed in this connection. Both activities are supposed to have the same effect on the face: to make it perfect and to create an illusion. That was what Winterhalter was also aim ing to accomplish. His sitters may have arrived already made up at their sessions with him. Or alternatively, it was the artist who with his brush made cheeks somewhat rosier, complex ions smoother. In any case, his portraits invariably flattered the ladies who sat for them. They showed them “from their best side.” Winterhalter’s pictures were not only highly appreciated by their subjects but were a huge hit with the public at Salon showings. They were frequently replicated: lithographs and even souvenirs with Winterhalter portrait motifs circulated widely. This inevitably led to tastes in fashion and styles being shaped by the portraits. Queen Victoria (1819–1901)
4 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Princess Leonilla of SaynWittgenstein-Sayn, 1840s, oil on canvas, 38 1⁄5 × 31 in. (97 × 79 cm), Schloss Sayn near Koblenz.
and Empress Eugénie (1826–1920), who gave Winterhalter the most commissions, exemplify this form of influence.18 The artist received commissions for far more than a hundred paintings from the two women. He not only portrayed the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and the Empress of the French but even their husbands and children. One might say that Winterhalter deserves the additional accolade of chil dren’s painter par excellence because he painted enchanting portraits of children with the same consummate skill that he lavished on the likenesses of the women who flocked to his studio. Most of the children’s portraits were commissioned by Queen Victoria. She was the perfect embodiment of the idealized wife and mother for the compelling reason that she simply adored her husband, Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861).19 From her marriage to a man she venerated, Victoria drew the stringently conservative values and morals
5 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Lady in Spanish Costume, 1849, pencil on paper, 15 ½ × 11 ⅜ in. (39.5 × 29 cm), Augustinermuseum, Städtische Museen Freiburg, inv. no. 4452.
that she publicly advocated and in so doing shaped the image of perfect womanhood throughout her kingdom.20 And Winterhalter was adept at addressing the individual require ments and needs of his patronesses. This explains the 1843 portrait of Queen Victoria, in which she is depicted reclining in a sensuous pose, her hair loose and her neckline sugges tively disarranged (cat. 33). This extraordinarily intimate painting was intended for her husband, Albert, and hung in his study. Here a young woman is shown as a femme épanouie, a fulfilled wife, who is also very much the tempting morsel for her husband to gaze at and lust after. Two private portraits of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837–1898) are in the same vein. The Austro-Hungarian monarch’s wife had herself painted twice by Winterhalter for her husband, Franz Joseph (1830– 1916). In both informal portraits, she is wearing her luxuriant mane of hair loose and is clad in a peignoir (figs. 6, 7). 53
up imperfections and confined bulges, whereas necklines were wide and plunging and often lavishly trimmed. The status of fashion as the sole means of self-expression available to women is clearly evident in Winterhalter’s work. The portrait painter from the Black Forest mastered one skill to perfection: rendering fine textiles and other materials, such as gleaming silks, airy tulle, and iridescent pearls. Two oil sketches that are still owned by Winterhalter’s descen dants attest to the artist’s intensive study of folds and the qualities of materials (figs. 2, 3). Impressive examples of how he put that ability to use are the portraits of Anna, Princess of Hesse (1836–1918), painted in 1858 (fig. 1, cat. 64), and
2 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Study of Drapery, 1, ca. 1830/40, oil and pencil on paper, 10 × 14 1⁄5 in. (25.6 × 36 cm), private collection of Thomas C. Bender.
3 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Study of Drapery, 2, ca. 1830/40, oil and pencil on paper, 10 × 14 in. (25.2 × 35,6 cm), private collection of Thomas C. Bender.
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Princess Leonilla of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1816–1918) painted in the 1840s (fig. 4). Whereas Anna is enveloped in a cloud of tulle, Leonilla is depicted wearing a black lace scarf and a silk dress decorated with gold thread—painted with consummate skill by Winterhalter. The artist has deftly arranged and staged the two women’s facial expressions, pos ture, clothing, and jewelry. His professional handling of the properties of materials is also shown in his drawings—for example in a portrait of a lady in Spanish costume (1849), in which Winterhalter has captured the almost transparent, delicate veils worn by the sitter with a few sketchy strokes of his pencil (fig. 5). Contemporary critics sarcastically de scribed his painting as “peinture decorative,” and not without reason,14 and Winterhalter himself as “peintr[e] à la mode,” a fashionable painter.15 Unsurprisingly, some women are even said to have lamented while eyeing Winterhalter paintings at the Salon that it was such a great pity “the address of the dressmaker who made the dress the sitter is wearing is not given in the catalogue.”16 Winterhalter also had a feeling for “the right” pose and composition as a whole. It is highly likely that the artist made suggestions about materials, colors, and accessories. He def initely knew what would flatter the ladies who sat for portraits and what sort of clothing was best suited to any particular purpose (be it an official state portrait or an unofficial paint ing to be hung in a home). In addition, he added just the right amount of idealism, succeeding in making his sitters look like themselves despite certain beautification measures he resorted to as needed, especially when a woman’s appear ance had to meet the highest standards. The subject of makeup, which by the nineteenth century was associated solely with women, caused as much agitation as “fashion” did. Applying cosmetics covers up irregularities, conceals imperfections, and perfects one’s appearance—another obli gation imposed on women so that they could fulfil their role in “seductively histrionic pretense.”17 The similarity between applying cosmetics and painting a portrait has always been discussed in this connection. Both activities are supposed to have the same effect on the face: to make it perfect and to create an illusion. That was what Winterhalter was also aim ing to accomplish. His sitters may have arrived already made up at their sessions with him. Or alternatively, it was the artist who with his brush made cheeks somewhat rosier, complex ions smoother. In any case, his portraits invariably flattered the ladies who sat for them. They showed them “from their best side.” Winterhalter’s pictures were not only highly appreciated by their subjects but were a huge hit with the public at Salon showings. They were frequently replicated: lithographs and even souvenirs with Winterhalter portrait motifs circulated widely. This inevitably led to tastes in fashion and styles being shaped by the portraits. Queen Victoria (1819–1901)
4 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Princess Leonilla of SaynWittgenstein-Sayn, 1840s, oil on canvas, 38 1⁄5 × 31 in. (97 × 79 cm), Schloss Sayn near Koblenz.
and Empress Eugénie (1826–1920), who gave Winterhalter the most commissions, exemplify this form of influence.18 The artist received commissions for far more than a hundred paintings from the two women. He not only portrayed the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and the Empress of the French but even their husbands and children. One might say that Winterhalter deserves the additional accolade of chil dren’s painter par excellence because he painted enchanting portraits of children with the same consummate skill that he lavished on the likenesses of the women who flocked to his studio. Most of the children’s portraits were commissioned by Queen Victoria. She was the perfect embodiment of the idealized wife and mother for the compelling reason that she simply adored her husband, Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861).19 From her marriage to a man she venerated, Victoria drew the stringently conservative values and morals
5 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Lady in Spanish Costume, 1849, pencil on paper, 15 ½ × 11 ⅜ in. (39.5 × 29 cm), Augustinermuseum, Städtische Museen Freiburg, inv. no. 4452.
that she publicly advocated and in so doing shaped the image of perfect womanhood throughout her kingdom.20 And Winterhalter was adept at addressing the individual require ments and needs of his patronesses. This explains the 1843 portrait of Queen Victoria, in which she is depicted reclining in a sensuous pose, her hair loose and her neckline sugges tively disarranged (cat. 33). This extraordinarily intimate painting was intended for her husband, Albert, and hung in his study. Here a young woman is shown as a femme épanouie, a fulfilled wife, who is also very much the tempting morsel for her husband to gaze at and lust after. Two private portraits of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837–1898) are in the same vein. The Austro-Hungarian monarch’s wife had herself painted twice by Winterhalter for her husband, Franz Joseph (1830– 1916). In both informal portraits, she is wearing her luxuriant mane of hair loose and is clad in a peignoir (figs. 6, 7). 53
The Confections of Winterhalter and Worth Elizabeth Ann Coleman
1 Charles Frederick Worth in his later years.
Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s sitters often appear captured in swirls of icy white silk tulle and an array of white fabrics that range in variety from the richest silks to a theatrical, loosely woven, but firmly sized transparent cotton fabric known as tarlatan.1 The faces of many of Winterhalter’s mostly titled female subjects cap the clouds of these shimmery white mate rials, while their bodies showcase examples of France’s finest and most complex examples of Lyon silk weaving, European lace-making, and other kinds of textile-finishing virtuosity: braids, fringes, tassels, elaborate buttons, and so forth. Despite the significant impact of political changes, Lyon remained the unrivaled center for luxury silk textiles, and businesses in surrounding areas contributed finishing details, such as ribbons and braids.2 Following a brief but industry-damaging hiatus after the fall of the First French Empire, the return of the monarchy during the Second Empire (1852–70) brought champions to the textile trades in the guise of a Spanish 58
countess turned French empress, Eugénie, and her husband, Napoleon III.3 Napoleon encouraged his wife’s patronage of dressmakers of the day, even going so far as to reproach her for her simple tastes. Although, as some of her contempo raries noted, she was not absorbed by the subject of clothes, she nevertheless recognized her duty to support France’s textile and fashion industries and to influence other French aristocrats to follow suit. Eugénie’s efforts were indirectly assisted by another immi grant to France, a fledgling dry-goods salesman who had arrived on the scene a few years prior to the empress in 1849. Upon learning enough French to work in France, the Eng lishman Charles Frederick Worth (1825–1895) (fig. 1) began his career as a salesman at the period’s premier Parisian drygoods establishment, Gagelin-Opigez et Cie., where he was exposed to the finest fabrics and where he would eventually be permitted to fashion materials on offer into garments, which, as the story goes, his attractive young wife, Marie Vernet Worth, would model; the result was a successful mar keting strategy that made Worth the first designer to use real women to model his designs. Long before Worth’s meteoric rise, fashion played such an important role in France that it had been considered the Western arbiter of taste. In the waning days of the eighteenth century, even the name of the queen’s dressmaker was widely known, but all that changed when, following the Napoleonic years, a republic emerged. Gone was a lively press highlight ing fashion creations and thus providing the impetus to buy luxurious fabrics. While numerous female professionals known as milliners continued quietly to create and dress the elite, they tended to work in the shadows, their names show ing up only occasionally, when associated with illustrations appended to ladies’ periodicals and, even less frequently, in editorial discussions of current styles. Around the middle of the nineteenth century, creatively talented individuals emerged in this profession, but none with the personal flair of Worth. Some of his successful female counterparts included Madame
2 Number 104, from Le Journal du Printemps fashion illustration by D. Goulart of two Worth and Bobergh garments, each ca. 1868–70.
The Confections of Winterhalter and Worth Elizabeth Ann Coleman
1 Charles Frederick Worth in his later years.
Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s sitters often appear captured in swirls of icy white silk tulle and an array of white fabrics that range in variety from the richest silks to a theatrical, loosely woven, but firmly sized transparent cotton fabric known as tarlatan.1 The faces of many of Winterhalter’s mostly titled female subjects cap the clouds of these shimmery white mate rials, while their bodies showcase examples of France’s finest and most complex examples of Lyon silk weaving, European lace-making, and other kinds of textile-finishing virtuosity: braids, fringes, tassels, elaborate buttons, and so forth. Despite the significant impact of political changes, Lyon remained the unrivaled center for luxury silk textiles, and businesses in surrounding areas contributed finishing details, such as ribbons and braids.2 Following a brief but industry-damaging hiatus after the fall of the First French Empire, the return of the monarchy during the Second Empire (1852–70) brought champions to the textile trades in the guise of a Spanish 58
countess turned French empress, Eugénie, and her husband, Napoleon III.3 Napoleon encouraged his wife’s patronage of dressmakers of the day, even going so far as to reproach her for her simple tastes. Although, as some of her contempo raries noted, she was not absorbed by the subject of clothes, she nevertheless recognized her duty to support France’s textile and fashion industries and to influence other French aristocrats to follow suit. Eugénie’s efforts were indirectly assisted by another immi grant to France, a fledgling dry-goods salesman who had arrived on the scene a few years prior to the empress in 1849. Upon learning enough French to work in France, the Eng lishman Charles Frederick Worth (1825–1895) (fig. 1) began his career as a salesman at the period’s premier Parisian drygoods establishment, Gagelin-Opigez et Cie., where he was exposed to the finest fabrics and where he would eventually be permitted to fashion materials on offer into garments, which, as the story goes, his attractive young wife, Marie Vernet Worth, would model; the result was a successful mar keting strategy that made Worth the first designer to use real women to model his designs. Long before Worth’s meteoric rise, fashion played such an important role in France that it had been considered the Western arbiter of taste. In the waning days of the eighteenth century, even the name of the queen’s dressmaker was widely known, but all that changed when, following the Napoleonic years, a republic emerged. Gone was a lively press highlight ing fashion creations and thus providing the impetus to buy luxurious fabrics. While numerous female professionals known as milliners continued quietly to create and dress the elite, they tended to work in the shadows, their names show ing up only occasionally, when associated with illustrations appended to ladies’ periodicals and, even less frequently, in editorial discussions of current styles. Around the middle of the nineteenth century, creatively talented individuals emerged in this profession, but none with the personal flair of Worth. Some of his successful female counterparts included Madame
2 Number 104, from Le Journal du Printemps fashion illustration by D. Goulart of two Worth and Bobergh garments, each ca. 1868–70.
15 Il Dolce Farniente 1836 Oil on canvas, 44 ⅞ × 62 ⅝ in. (114 × 159 cm) Private collection
Apart from The Decameron (cat. 16), Il Dolce Farniente may well be the most important and impressive genre picture that Franz Xaver Winterhalter ever painted. The work dates from 1836, when Winterhalter was enjoying his first successes in Paris. The painting was shown at the Salon that year to great public acclaim. The artist was even awarded one of the eight second-class medals for this work. To design the composition and develop the individual characters, Winterhalter presum ably used sketches and drawings from his time in Italy. He also made a second version of the painting, which was acquired by the Czar of Russia in 1838 and is now in the State Hermit age in St. Petersburg. The picture shows an Arcadian landscape in blazing sun light, presumably on the Gulf of Naples because Vesuvius is recognizable in the background. The Italian title means sim ply “sweet idleness,” which explains why the painting is also known as Siesta in Naples. The response accorded it by con temporaries, for instance in the 1836 Kunstblatt, speaks of a Neapolitan fisherman’s family prone to indulging in idleness. However, what Winterhalter probably had in mind was an idealized representation of the Golden Age because he had personally experienced the poverty and squalor omnipresent in Italy. The theme is not just leisure but also harmony and amicable togetherness. Winterhalter has arranged his figures on gently rising ground in groups of two and three, who are communicating with one another. Nevertheless, all of the figures fit into a harmonious whole, as Winterhalter connects three groups with glances between certain figures. The woman with the mandolin player, for instance, is looking at the two young men in the foreground. And, finally, the seated young man with the red hat is lost in thought but facing toward the viewer. Tinged with the warmth of summer sunlight, this painting documents the painter’s superb handling of compo sition and can be regarded as one of his masterpieces. With consummate skill he has staged the groups of figures with foreshortening and perspectives in such a way that realistic representation is matched with convincing spatial depth. In this lively form of genre painting, Winterhalter was influ enced by the Swiss-born painter Léopold Robert. TvS —— References : Panter 1996, pp. 65–66, fig. 13 (cat. 44); Eismann 2007, pp. 64–65,
fig. 39; Ludwig 2009, pp. 278–79; Barilo von Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 111. Exhibitions : London and Paris 1987–88, no. 9. Provenance : Asse Collection 1843; a Belgian collection 1864–74; 1894 Artemis Group, London; since 2000 privately owned.
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15 Il Dolce Farniente 1836 Oil on canvas, 44 ⅞ × 62 ⅝ in. (114 × 159 cm) Private collection
Apart from The Decameron (cat. 16), Il Dolce Farniente may well be the most important and impressive genre picture that Franz Xaver Winterhalter ever painted. The work dates from 1836, when Winterhalter was enjoying his first successes in Paris. The painting was shown at the Salon that year to great public acclaim. The artist was even awarded one of the eight second-class medals for this work. To design the composition and develop the individual characters, Winterhalter presum ably used sketches and drawings from his time in Italy. He also made a second version of the painting, which was acquired by the Czar of Russia in 1838 and is now in the State Hermit age in St. Petersburg. The picture shows an Arcadian landscape in blazing sun light, presumably on the Gulf of Naples because Vesuvius is recognizable in the background. The Italian title means sim ply “sweet idleness,” which explains why the painting is also known as Siesta in Naples. The response accorded it by con temporaries, for instance in the 1836 Kunstblatt, speaks of a Neapolitan fisherman’s family prone to indulging in idleness. However, what Winterhalter probably had in mind was an idealized representation of the Golden Age because he had personally experienced the poverty and squalor omnipresent in Italy. The theme is not just leisure but also harmony and amicable togetherness. Winterhalter has arranged his figures on gently rising ground in groups of two and three, who are communicating with one another. Nevertheless, all of the figures fit into a harmonious whole, as Winterhalter connects three groups with glances between certain figures. The woman with the mandolin player, for instance, is looking at the two young men in the foreground. And, finally, the seated young man with the red hat is lost in thought but facing toward the viewer. Tinged with the warmth of summer sunlight, this painting documents the painter’s superb handling of compo sition and can be regarded as one of his masterpieces. With consummate skill he has staged the groups of figures with foreshortening and perspectives in such a way that realistic representation is matched with convincing spatial depth. In this lively form of genre painting, Winterhalter was influ enced by the Swiss-born painter Léopold Robert. TvS —— References : Panter 1996, pp. 65–66, fig. 13 (cat. 44); Eismann 2007, pp. 64–65,
fig. 39; Ludwig 2009, pp. 278–79; Barilo von Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 111. Exhibitions : London and Paris 1987–88, no. 9. Provenance : Asse Collection 1843; a Belgian collection 1864–74; 1894 Artemis Group, London; since 2000 privately owned.
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23 Swiss Girl from Interlaken 1840s Oil on canvas, 49 ⅝ × 36 ⅝ in. (126 × 93 cm) Private collection
As his descendants tell it, this Winterhalter portrait has its own legend. The subject of the portrait is supposed to be a great-granddaughter of Ritschard, the founder of the hotel of that name (later Hotel Metropole) in Interlaken. Winterhalter probably stayed at that hotel while he was in the Swiss city. A Winterhalter watercolor of the young Elisabeth Ritschard (1833–1893) has survived. Elisabeth looks astonishingly like the girl in the portrait discussed here—so it could be her sister. The story has been handed down that the artist admired the young woman and painted her portrait for that reason. He kept the picture for the rest of his life, and it is now owned by his descendants. Since it is neither signed nor dated, there is ample room for conjecture. Art historians have hitherto tended to assign it to Winterhalter’s genre pictures, especially because of the manner of representation: the costume the young woman is wearing and the landscape in the back ground. The identity of the model has also been a matter of conjecture. Some art historians have suspected she might be the daughter of a banker from Bern. Be that as it may, the theory that this painting might really be a portrait is sup ported by the fact that the young woman’s facial features and expression look astonishingly individual. Further qualities that argue for this assumption are the girl’s direct gaze and the realistic costume (entirely in keeping with the fashion of the time and the region). The Swiss girl looks self-confidently out of the picture. She is leaning on a mossy stone, with her bent arm resting on it. Her left hand toys with the bow in her hair band. A straw hat is casually held in her right hand. Winterhalter has han dled the different materials of her clothing with his usual skill. You can almost feel the different textures of the various pieces of clothing: the black velvet of the shoulder cape, the glossy, heavy black material of the skirt, the lace-trimmed turn-up cuffs. Jewelry, such as the silver buttons on the
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odice and the chains on the collar, is also intricately worked b out in detail. The white, puffy blouse and the young woman’s light complexion form a color contrast with the dark skirt and cape. The landscape—both in the foreground and the background—has also been reproduced with exceptional realism. The flowers in the right foreground seem to be grow ing out of the picture space; the snow-covered Jungfrau mountain is shown rising in the background, at left, against a sky with scattered clouds. Everything about this picture looks authentic. Here Winterhalter seems to have blended the classical portrait and stylistic devices from genre painting to lend the work more freshness and naturalness of expression. MS —— References : Ormond/Blackett-Ord 1987, p. 180; Gallati 1991, pp. 77–78; Panter
1996, pp. 75–76 (cat. 47); Barilo von Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 170. Exhibitions : London and Paris 1987–88, no. 13; Bonndorf 2005. Provenance : From Hermann Winterhalter’s estate to the descendants of the
artist brothers.
23 Swiss Girl from Interlaken 1840s Oil on canvas, 49 ⅝ × 36 ⅝ in. (126 × 93 cm) Private collection
As his descendants tell it, this Winterhalter portrait has its own legend. The subject of the portrait is supposed to be a great-granddaughter of Ritschard, the founder of the hotel of that name (later Hotel Metropole) in Interlaken. Winterhalter probably stayed at that hotel while he was in the Swiss city. A Winterhalter watercolor of the young Elisabeth Ritschard (1833–1893) has survived. Elisabeth looks astonishingly like the girl in the portrait discussed here—so it could be her sister. The story has been handed down that the artist admired the young woman and painted her portrait for that reason. He kept the picture for the rest of his life, and it is now owned by his descendants. Since it is neither signed nor dated, there is ample room for conjecture. Art historians have hitherto tended to assign it to Winterhalter’s genre pictures, especially because of the manner of representation: the costume the young woman is wearing and the landscape in the back ground. The identity of the model has also been a matter of conjecture. Some art historians have suspected she might be the daughter of a banker from Bern. Be that as it may, the theory that this painting might really be a portrait is sup ported by the fact that the young woman’s facial features and expression look astonishingly individual. Further qualities that argue for this assumption are the girl’s direct gaze and the realistic costume (entirely in keeping with the fashion of the time and the region). The Swiss girl looks self-confidently out of the picture. She is leaning on a mossy stone, with her bent arm resting on it. Her left hand toys with the bow in her hair band. A straw hat is casually held in her right hand. Winterhalter has han dled the different materials of her clothing with his usual skill. You can almost feel the different textures of the various pieces of clothing: the black velvet of the shoulder cape, the glossy, heavy black material of the skirt, the lace-trimmed turn-up cuffs. Jewelry, such as the silver buttons on the
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odice and the chains on the collar, is also intricately worked b out in detail. The white, puffy blouse and the young woman’s light complexion form a color contrast with the dark skirt and cape. The landscape—both in the foreground and the background—has also been reproduced with exceptional realism. The flowers in the right foreground seem to be grow ing out of the picture space; the snow-covered Jungfrau mountain is shown rising in the background, at left, against a sky with scattered clouds. Everything about this picture looks authentic. Here Winterhalter seems to have blended the classical portrait and stylistic devices from genre painting to lend the work more freshness and naturalness of expression. MS —— References : Ormond/Blackett-Ord 1987, p. 180; Gallati 1991, pp. 77–78; Panter
1996, pp. 75–76 (cat. 47); Barilo von Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 170. Exhibitions : London and Paris 1987–88, no. 13; Bonndorf 2005. Provenance : From Hermann Winterhalter’s estate to the descendants of the
artist brothers.
24 King Leopold I of the Belgians 1840 Oil on canvas, 106 3⁄4 × 71 1⁄4 in. (271 × 181 cm) Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, inv. no. MV 6510
Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha almost became prince consort as the husband of Charlotte, Princess of Wales and daughter and heir to King George IV of Great Britain, but she died in childbirth in 1817. Leopold was then chosen by the European powers to reign over the newly created Kingdom of Belgium, which had come into being through the revolu tion of 1830. The King of the French, Louis-Philippe I, who, so as not to offend his allies, had refused the offer of the throne made by the Belgian deputies to his younger son, the Duke of Nemours, gave the hand of his eldest daughter, Louise of Orléans, in marriage to Leopold in 1832. The marriage strength ened the ties between France and the young Belgium even though that new monarchy was very closely bound by famil ial ties to England, whose youthful sovereign, Victoria, was Leopold’s own niece. This large portrait of the first King of the Belgians does not appear among the orders placed by Louis-Philippe for his historical galleries at Versailles, yet it must have been com missioned from Winterhalter by Leopold in 1840 as a present for his father-in-law and would be, therefore, a replica by the artist’s own hand of the portrait commissioned by the sitter for the Belgian Senate, which earned the artist the Cross of the National Order of Leopold. Winterhalter had already portrayed the King of the Belgians the year before, in civilian clothing, and would have to depict him again in 1846, in the same uniform as the one he is wearing here but with the French knee breeches prescribed for court dress and the Order of the Garter (Royal Collection; replica at Versailles). But this portrait is more ambitious in format, décor, and composition. It was the model for numerous state portraits of monarchs both from Winterhalter’s studio and by others, and would remain so until the end of the reign. The pose perfectly expresses royal power and authority.
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In line with the fashion then followed in northern uropean countries, Leopold is depicted in military uniform, E here as a colonel of the armored cavalry: a dark blue frock coat with yellow collar and cuffs, white trousers, riding boots, and silver epaulettes, his hand resting on his saber. He is clanking with medals, ten of them at least: in the top row the insignia of the Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, with the grand red moiré sash and the star embroidered in gold thread, as well as the Order of the Golden Fleece. The richly palatial setting clearly designates the sitter’s monarchical status, while the lion placed at the foot of the stair is undoubt edly intended to suggest the heraldic Belgian lion, the Leo Belgicus of the new state coat of arms. FL —— References : Wild 1894; Constans 1995, no. 5372; Burlion 2011, no. 260; Barilo von
Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 168. Exhibitions : London and Paris 1987–88, no. 14 (Paris). Provenance : Probably commissioned by Leopold I as a present for his father-inlaw, Louis-Philippe; Louis-Philippe Collection; probably registered at Versailles after 1848.
24 King Leopold I of the Belgians 1840 Oil on canvas, 106 3⁄4 × 71 1⁄4 in. (271 × 181 cm) Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, inv. no. MV 6510
Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha almost became prince consort as the husband of Charlotte, Princess of Wales and daughter and heir to King George IV of Great Britain, but she died in childbirth in 1817. Leopold was then chosen by the European powers to reign over the newly created Kingdom of Belgium, which had come into being through the revolu tion of 1830. The King of the French, Louis-Philippe I, who, so as not to offend his allies, had refused the offer of the throne made by the Belgian deputies to his younger son, the Duke of Nemours, gave the hand of his eldest daughter, Louise of Orléans, in marriage to Leopold in 1832. The marriage strength ened the ties between France and the young Belgium even though that new monarchy was very closely bound by famil ial ties to England, whose youthful sovereign, Victoria, was Leopold’s own niece. This large portrait of the first King of the Belgians does not appear among the orders placed by Louis-Philippe for his historical galleries at Versailles, yet it must have been com missioned from Winterhalter by Leopold in 1840 as a present for his father-in-law and would be, therefore, a replica by the artist’s own hand of the portrait commissioned by the sitter for the Belgian Senate, which earned the artist the Cross of the National Order of Leopold. Winterhalter had already portrayed the King of the Belgians the year before, in civilian clothing, and would have to depict him again in 1846, in the same uniform as the one he is wearing here but with the French knee breeches prescribed for court dress and the Order of the Garter (Royal Collection; replica at Versailles). But this portrait is more ambitious in format, décor, and composition. It was the model for numerous state portraits of monarchs both from Winterhalter’s studio and by others, and would remain so until the end of the reign. The pose perfectly expresses royal power and authority.
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In line with the fashion then followed in northern uropean countries, Leopold is depicted in military uniform, E here as a colonel of the armored cavalry: a dark blue frock coat with yellow collar and cuffs, white trousers, riding boots, and silver epaulettes, his hand resting on his saber. He is clanking with medals, ten of them at least: in the top row the insignia of the Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, with the grand red moiré sash and the star embroidered in gold thread, as well as the Order of the Golden Fleece. The richly palatial setting clearly designates the sitter’s monarchical status, while the lion placed at the foot of the stair is undoubt edly intended to suggest the heraldic Belgian lion, the Leo Belgicus of the new state coat of arms. FL —— References : Wild 1894; Constans 1995, no. 5372; Burlion 2011, no. 260; Barilo von
Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 168. Exhibitions : London and Paris 1987–88, no. 14 (Paris). Provenance : Probably commissioned by Leopold I as a present for his father-inlaw, Louis-Philippe; Louis-Philippe Collection; probably registered at Versailles after 1848.
34 Princess Leonilla of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn 1843 Oil on canvas, 56 × 83 1⁄2 in. (142 × 212 cm) J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, inv. no. 86.PA.534
In 1834 Leonilla Ivanovna Bariatinskaia (1816–1918), daugh ter of Field-Marshal Prince Ivan Ivanovich Bariatynski (1772– 1826) and his second wife, Marie Wilhelmine Luise Countess von Keller (1792–1858), married Ludwig, Prince of SaynWittgenstein-Sayn (1799–1866), one of the czar’s aides-decamp, a Russian aristocrat, and descendant of a princely German family. This remarkable couple had four children, and they were known for their peripatetic lifestyle, taking their entire household—children, pets, servants, and tutors— with them as they traveled around Europe. In 1848 the family settled in Germany, rebuilding a baroque manor house into a charming neo-Gothic castle on the Rhine. Leonilla, renowned for her intellect as well as her beauty, hosted a salon for many years. She died at the age of 101 in her villa near Geneva, having witnessed the transformation of Europe from the end of the Napoleonic era to the end of World War I. The picture’s size and horizontal format in rendering a single figure are unique in Winterhalter’s oeuvre, as is the sit ter’s pose—Leonilla is languorously reclining on a low Turkish sofa placed on a terrace, where a lush tropical landscape can be seen in the background. The combination of the pose with its allusion to Orientalist images of odalisques and the sundrenched landscape, which may in fact be a view from the family’s palace on the Crimea, raise this painting to a level somewhere between portrait and genre painting. The work also recalls Winterhalter’s successful genre paintings, including Il Dolce Farniente or The Decameron (cats. 15, 16) of the 1830s, and shares with these earlier works the integration of the figure into the landscape. No doubt enticed by Leonilla’s beguiling beauty, Winter halter gives her face an aura of mystery by placing it in the shade. With her right hand she seems to be absentmindedly fingering her pearl necklace while a partially opened fan in her left underscores the sensation of a heat-induced languor that permeates this painting. The princess’s attire at first glance seems very exotic but actually consists of a fashionable white dress accessorized with a luxurious purple wrap, a black lace stole, and a pink satin ribbon knotted at the waist into a very personal fashion statement. Winterhalter masterfully ren dered the ample folds of the white silk skirt, letting light and shade play over the material in subtle gradations. HKA/JE —— References : Wild 1894, nos. 79, 80; von Schneider 1935; Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn
1979a, p. 162; Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn 1979b; Ruhmer 1981, p. 369; Heilmann 1984, pp. 37, 69–69, no. 32; Artemis 1985–86, p. 26; Ormond/Blackett-Ord 1987, pp. 185–86, cat. 20; Panter 1996, fig. 15; Barilo von Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 243; Barilo von Reisberg [2015], pp. 76–77, fig. 15. Exhibitions : London and Paris 1987–88, no. 20. Provenance : By family descent; purchased by Artemis Group, ca. 1985; purchased by the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1986.
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34 Princess Leonilla of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn 1843 Oil on canvas, 56 × 83 1⁄2 in. (142 × 212 cm) J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, inv. no. 86.PA.534
In 1834 Leonilla Ivanovna Bariatinskaia (1816–1918), daugh ter of Field-Marshal Prince Ivan Ivanovich Bariatynski (1772– 1826) and his second wife, Marie Wilhelmine Luise Countess von Keller (1792–1858), married Ludwig, Prince of SaynWittgenstein-Sayn (1799–1866), one of the czar’s aides-decamp, a Russian aristocrat, and descendant of a princely German family. This remarkable couple had four children, and they were known for their peripatetic lifestyle, taking their entire household—children, pets, servants, and tutors— with them as they traveled around Europe. In 1848 the family settled in Germany, rebuilding a baroque manor house into a charming neo-Gothic castle on the Rhine. Leonilla, renowned for her intellect as well as her beauty, hosted a salon for many years. She died at the age of 101 in her villa near Geneva, having witnessed the transformation of Europe from the end of the Napoleonic era to the end of World War I. The picture’s size and horizontal format in rendering a single figure are unique in Winterhalter’s oeuvre, as is the sit ter’s pose—Leonilla is languorously reclining on a low Turkish sofa placed on a terrace, where a lush tropical landscape can be seen in the background. The combination of the pose with its allusion to Orientalist images of odalisques and the sundrenched landscape, which may in fact be a view from the family’s palace on the Crimea, raise this painting to a level somewhere between portrait and genre painting. The work also recalls Winterhalter’s successful genre paintings, including Il Dolce Farniente or The Decameron (cats. 15, 16) of the 1830s, and shares with these earlier works the integration of the figure into the landscape. No doubt enticed by Leonilla’s beguiling beauty, Winter halter gives her face an aura of mystery by placing it in the shade. With her right hand she seems to be absentmindedly fingering her pearl necklace while a partially opened fan in her left underscores the sensation of a heat-induced languor that permeates this painting. The princess’s attire at first glance seems very exotic but actually consists of a fashionable white dress accessorized with a luxurious purple wrap, a black lace stole, and a pink satin ribbon knotted at the waist into a very personal fashion statement. Winterhalter masterfully ren dered the ample folds of the white silk skirt, letting light and shade play over the material in subtle gradations. HKA/JE —— References : Wild 1894, nos. 79, 80; von Schneider 1935; Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn
1979a, p. 162; Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn 1979b; Ruhmer 1981, p. 369; Heilmann 1984, pp. 37, 69–69, no. 32; Artemis 1985–86, p. 26; Ormond/Blackett-Ord 1987, pp. 185–86, cat. 20; Panter 1996, fig. 15; Barilo von Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 243; Barilo von Reisberg [2015], pp. 76–77, fig. 15. Exhibitions : London and Paris 1987–88, no. 20. Provenance : By family descent; purchased by Artemis Group, ca. 1985; purchased by the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1986.
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35 Princess Alice of Great Britain in 18th-Century Costume 1845 Oil on canvas, 29 × 20 ⅞ in. (73.7 × 53 cm) Kulturstiftung des Hauses Hessen
Winterhalter painted portraits of the children of Queen Victoria and Albert, the prince consort, at regular intervals when he was staying in England. This picture of little Alice (1843–1878) was painted in 1845. The little girl was, as is noted on the reverse of the painting, one year and nine months old at the time the portrait was painted. The dress she is wearing was probably made for a costume ball her parents gave that year, to which guests were asked to be dressed in the style of a century before. The children were evidently also very lov ingly costumed for the occasion. This fondness for costume reappears in two watercolors that Winterhalter painted in 1850 and 1853 showing Victoria and Alice in eighteenth-cen tury garb and their brother Arthur as Henry VIII.1 Alice is wearing a full-skirted pink silk dress with a match ing headdress and is holding a closed fan in her right hand. The length of the fan and the height of the chair she is hold ing on to with her free hand enhance the delightful contrast between appearances and reality that Winterhalter has devel oped in this portrait of a child. The elegant Rococo lady is indeed still a small child and is supposed to remain recogniz ably so, despite the grown-up pose. Lighting from the front and a dark background produce a very concentrated mood that is entirely focused on the child’s appearance. Winterhalter has meticulously described the facial features and has cap tured the little girl’s rather melancholy expression with great sensitivity. Thus he has made little Alice a personality with character while he has handled the elaborate costume with grandiose loose brushwork and fitted it into the rectangular picture format as a large triangle. Queen Victoria was very anxious to follow the changes in her children’s looks as they grew up. In Winterhalter she had found a portraitist who knew not only how to exploit that interest through his skills as an artist but also how to win the
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children’s trust with his uncomplicated approach to them. He painted children quite often and probably also enjoyed doing so because he possessed a sensitive feeling for their burgeon ing personalities. At nineteen, Alice married Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, heir to the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. The portrait of her as a child went to Germany long after her death, on the occasion of a visit made to the country by her brother Edward VII in 1901. He gave the picture to his sister Vicky, widow of the German emperor Friedrich III. AD —— References : Panter 1996, pp. 110–11; Berlin 1997, p. 200; Coburg 1997, pp. 73–74;
Portland 2005–06, p. 138; Petersberg 2009, p. 170; Petersberg 2014, p. 12; Barilo von Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 292. Exhibitions : Berlin 1997; Coburg 1997; Portland 2005–6; Petersberg 2014; Kronberg 2014–15. Provenance : From the family estate. ——
1 Ormond/Blackett-Ord 1987, p. 223.
35 Princess Alice of Great Britain in 18th-Century Costume 1845 Oil on canvas, 29 × 20 ⅞ in. (73.7 × 53 cm) Kulturstiftung des Hauses Hessen
Winterhalter painted portraits of the children of Queen Victoria and Albert, the prince consort, at regular intervals when he was staying in England. This picture of little Alice (1843–1878) was painted in 1845. The little girl was, as is noted on the reverse of the painting, one year and nine months old at the time the portrait was painted. The dress she is wearing was probably made for a costume ball her parents gave that year, to which guests were asked to be dressed in the style of a century before. The children were evidently also very lov ingly costumed for the occasion. This fondness for costume reappears in two watercolors that Winterhalter painted in 1850 and 1853 showing Victoria and Alice in eighteenth-cen tury garb and their brother Arthur as Henry VIII.1 Alice is wearing a full-skirted pink silk dress with a match ing headdress and is holding a closed fan in her right hand. The length of the fan and the height of the chair she is hold ing on to with her free hand enhance the delightful contrast between appearances and reality that Winterhalter has devel oped in this portrait of a child. The elegant Rococo lady is indeed still a small child and is supposed to remain recogniz ably so, despite the grown-up pose. Lighting from the front and a dark background produce a very concentrated mood that is entirely focused on the child’s appearance. Winterhalter has meticulously described the facial features and has cap tured the little girl’s rather melancholy expression with great sensitivity. Thus he has made little Alice a personality with character while he has handled the elaborate costume with grandiose loose brushwork and fitted it into the rectangular picture format as a large triangle. Queen Victoria was very anxious to follow the changes in her children’s looks as they grew up. In Winterhalter she had found a portraitist who knew not only how to exploit that interest through his skills as an artist but also how to win the
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children’s trust with his uncomplicated approach to them. He painted children quite often and probably also enjoyed doing so because he possessed a sensitive feeling for their burgeon ing personalities. At nineteen, Alice married Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, heir to the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. The portrait of her as a child went to Germany long after her death, on the occasion of a visit made to the country by her brother Edward VII in 1901. He gave the picture to his sister Vicky, widow of the German emperor Friedrich III. AD —— References : Panter 1996, pp. 110–11; Berlin 1997, p. 200; Coburg 1997, pp. 73–74;
Portland 2005–06, p. 138; Petersberg 2009, p. 170; Petersberg 2014, p. 12; Barilo von Reisberg, “The Winterhalter Catalogue,” no. 292. Exhibitions : Berlin 1997; Coburg 1997; Portland 2005–6; Petersberg 2014; Kronberg 2014–15. Provenance : From the family estate. ——
1 Ormond/Blackett-Ord 1987, p. 223.