Double portrait of Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz and his wife Anna Maria Luisa de 'Medici
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| Double portrait of Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz and his wife Anna Maria Luisa de 'Medici |
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| Jan Frans van Douven , 1708 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 243 × 182 cm |
| Vasari Corridor of the Uffizi Gallery , Florence |
The double portrait of Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz and his wife Anna Maria Luisa de 'Medici is a double portrait of the Düsseldorf court painter Jan Frans van Douven from 1708 . In the political context of the Causa palatina , it shows the Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz politically and programmatically as imperial vicar and Anna Maria Luisa de 'Medici as his second wife who was equal to him . In 1717 the oil painting came to Florence , where it is now in the Uffizi collection .
description
The monumental double portrait presents the enthroned elector couple under a brown-red drapery against the background of an ancient architectural backdrop and an Italian landscape with cypress trees . The elector wears parade armor , which is covered by a purple ermine coat . His face, which gently gazes at the viewer from oval-cut, slightly swelling eyeballs with a slight overhang of the eyelids, is framed by a silver-gray allonge wig . A lace adorns the neck , underneath the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece peeps out. In his right hand he is holding a marshal's baton, his left hand is a purple decorative cushion with the imperial crown . Behind it are two spa hats on a pedestal in the semi- darkness . The Electress, seated on a golden shell throne and also looking at the viewer, dominates the right half of the picture - represented on a par with the Elector. Her light complexion contrasts with the black hair of the towering woman's wig. She wears a tightly tailored, decollete gorgeous dress made of white and gold brocade with lace under a blue ermine cape. She holds an olive branch in her delicate hand . A lap dog at the feet of the Electress stares at the black Molossian , who - sitting on the left edge of the picture - faithfully looks up at his master. The broad collar of the Molosser bears the letters CP , an abbreviation for the Latin term comes palatinus , in German Pfalzgraf .
meaning
The double portrait represents the paradigm of an image of a ruler , in which the sovereign and princess as the ruling couple personify the presence and continuity of the dynasty . The image composition shows the couple as equal partners in different, complementary gender roles . The ruler is assigned the insignia of state rule and war , while the princess - symbolized by the olive branch and the blue of her cloak, which indicates Mary , the mother of God - takes on the role of savior and peacemaker. As a man, the ruler represents the cult and reasoning of the state ; as a woman, the princess - in line with the idea of natura naturata - is depicted against the background of an Italian landscape. The female role pattern assigned to her is underlined by the symbolism of the shell of her throne chair. The dichotomy of the ruling couple is also emphasized by the massive companion dog of the Palatinate sovereign and the small lap dog of the Italian princess.
The imperial insignium of the imperial crown in the picture center and the electoral hats behind it refer to the dispute over the Palatinate electoral dignity and the imperial vicariate ( Causa palatina ) in the time of Louis XIV and the War of the Spanish Succession . In this context, the imperial crown represents Johann Wilhelm's political claim to exercise the imperial vicariate and its transfer back to the Palatinate elector in accordance with a resolution of the Reichstag . Johann Wilhelm actually exercised the imperial vicariate from April 17 (the anniversary of Joseph I's death ) to December 22, 1711 (the coronation of Charles VI. ), The prestigious function of imperial administrator , which he underlined in 1711 by issuing vicariate coins . The two electoral hats symbolize the "double electoral dignity" of Johann Wilhelm, which the Electoral Palatinate and those spa Bavaria , which he had received in addition, as the former bearer, the Elector Maximilian II. Emanuel , because of whose alliance with Louis XIV, the imperial ban was imposed .
Provenance
The picture, which occupies a special position in the portrait painting of the court painter Jan Frans van Douven due to its political-programmatic statement, was created in 1708 at the Düsseldorf court of Elector Johann Wilhelm and was initially part of the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Düsseldorf . After the Elector died in 1716, the Electress withdrew to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany . When Anna Maria Luisa de 'Medici set out from Düsseldorf to Florence on September 10, 1717, the picture was part of the princess's art treasure and thus ended up in the Uffizi collection . It is exhibited there in the Vasari corridor .
Copies
In the 19th century , Georg von Prussia donated a copy of the same size to the Historical Museum of the City of Düsseldorf . Another copy is in the painting collection of Birlinghoven Castle in Sankt Augustin .
literature
- Bettina Baumgärtel : Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz and Anna Maria Luisa de 'Medici. Passions for collecting and cultural transfer between Düsseldorf and Florence . In: Heavenly, wonderfully courtly. Peter Paul Rubens - Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz - Anna Maria Luisa de 'Medici . Exhibition catalog, Düsseldorf 2008, pp. 12–57.
- Ekkehard Mai : portrait art and courtly portrait . In: Anna Maria Luisa Medici. Electress of the Palatinate . Exhibition catalog, Düsseldorf 1988, pp. 57–69.
Individual evidence
- ^ Theodora Oberperfler: Anna Maria Luisa de 'Medici, Electress of the Palatinate. Culture transfer Florence - Düsseldorf - Florence . Diploma thesis art history, University of Vienna, Vienna 2009, p. 38 ( PDF )
- ^ Friedrich Schaarschmidt : On the history of Düsseldorf art, especially in the XIX. Century . Art Association for the Rhineland and Westphalia, Düsseldorf 1902, p. 12.
- ↑ Illustration in: Hugo Weidenhaupt : Brief history of the city of Düsseldorf . Triltsch Verlag, 9th edition, Düsseldorf 1983, p. 60.
- ↑ Fraunhofer Institute Center Schloss Birlinghoven: Landscape, gardens, castle building, collection of paintings. Fraunhofer Institute Center Schloss Birlinghoven, accessed on May 6, 2017.