Family portrait of Count Johann II von Rietberg
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| Family portrait of Count Johann II von Rietberg (after restoration) |
|---|
| Hermann tom ring |
| Oil on wood |
| 56.5 x 166.5 cm |
| LWL Museum for Art and Culture, Inv. nos. 1022 LM, 993 LM, 1941 LM |
The family portrait of Count Johann II von Rietberg is probably the best-known painting by the painter Hermann tom Ring . It is owned by the LWL Museum for Art and Culture in Münster and was cut into four parts in the 19th century and reconstructed from three recovered parts.
description
The picture is 56.5 × 166.5 cm in size, almost exactly three times as wide as it is high; it was painted in mixed media on oak. The picture is sawn in the middle, with the left part again sawn into three parts. The entire surface is mathematically strictly divided into four fields, which are cut through by a strong cornice, ending with a trimmed semi-arch at the top. The individual fields are separated by fluted half-columns, the outer ones of which are overlapped on the right and left by the edge of the picture. The structure is constructed in such a way that it is based on a point of view that is to be assumed exactly in front of the central half-column, i.e. between the two pairs of portraits. From here the view leads in strict symmetry and a slightly exaggerated perspective to the left and right. The outer fields are correspondingly narrower than the middle ones. The central axis indicates the time of creation of the picture on a piece of paper: 1564. From the left shows Count Johann II. Depicted as a gentleman, turns to the right with a gesture of the right hand that is felt to be pointing, almost commanding. He points to something with his gloved hand, the point of which is emphasized by the second glove she is holding. An energetic show that leaves a confident energetic impression. The left hand rests on the parapet and lightly touches an hourglass that is exactly in the middle between the half-columns. On the upper plate is a skull that is so flat that you can put the glass on it when you turn it over. In the cornice is the saying: COGITA MORI ANNO 1562 (according to the commemoration of death in the year of the Lord 1562). The count died on December 9th of the same year. The clothes are chosen, but not stupid. The showpiece is a large black hat with a large white ostrich feather. The feather is held in place with a round agraffe depicting Samson's fight with the lion. The count clearly exceeds the limits the painter allowed by reaching beyond the half-column into the territory of his wife without the figure bursting the picture in its dimensions. Then follows his wife, who, according to the fashion of the time, had her eyebrows and eyelashes plucked out. Finally, Armgard and Walburgis von Rietberg follow , the left Armgard 13, the right Walburgis 7 years old, as the text on the board reports. The two girls are richly dressed and carry exotic animals with them. As a sign of her erudition, Walburgis shows a book, as a sign of her intact virginity, Armgard shows the viewer a white cloth. She is the only one looking directly at the viewer.
Historical background
The persons shown are (from left to right): Johann II von Rietberg , his wife Agnes von Bentheim and Steinfurt and their daughters Armgard and Walburgis . The interpretation of the picture is difficult because the lower part of Agnes von Rietberg's picture is still missing. What is certain is that Agnes von Bentheim and Steinfurt bought the painter Hermann tom Ring , who had already given her "dissolute" brother Eberwin III four years earlier . von Bentheim-Steinfurt had painted. Just like her brother, she moved from the strictly Catholic house of Bentheim-Steinfurt through marriage to Protestant relationships ( County Rietberg ) during the Reformation . The county of Rietberg fell to the feudal lord Landgrave Philipp after the belligerent Johann died . But after the death of her husband in 1562, Agnes tried to get the county back for her daughter Armgard. In a letter to the landgrave dated January 24, 1563, she informed him of the death of her husband.
"Her Johan Graf zum Rittbergk , Esendts , Stettesdorff and Wittmunden , my dearest and gracious blessed, by the sake of the dear God and almost manly imposed Creutz: muhe und Beschwarnus, with temporal death removed from this pit of misery."
In another letter in July 1563, she lamented her husband's bitter years in captivity:
"How much she hardens my dear husband and wife blissfully with their terrible days of Kray and not only after his wandering, but also after love and life, of whom they have now been satisfied and delicately offered up, all because of ... that the Rittpergian tribe completely exterminated and they want to attract and bring poverty to my Khinder. "
The correspondence Agnes had with him about the return of the county shows her to be unusually knowledgeable, but also as persistent as diplomatic. From 1563 to 1565, she fought with substantial financial aid. The countess assured him that she would reimburse Philip for all his expenses in this matter.
In a draft contract dated March 11, 1565, Hessen took up the offer of compensation and demanded the payment of 12,000 Rhenish gold guilders by May 27. On May 6th, Philipp was able to confirm receipt of the quite substantial sum and on the following day issued the new loan letter to Armgard . However, the border with the Principality of Paderborn remained controversial. An agreement was finally reached on June 7, 1565. The county was returned to Agnes von Bentheim on October 14, 1566.
Although, as contemporaries report, her first husband Johann II did not treat her particularly carefully, she did everything possible to put him in a good light. So she had two epitaphs built for him . The first is in Cologne, where he died, in the side aisle of the Romanesque church of Groß St. Martin . It shows the "Rietberger Adler" as a coat of arms at the top left, the "Lippische Rose" at the bottom left, the "East Frisian coat of arms" at the top right. On the epitaph is the text: variis mulitsque huius saeculi aerumnis et clamitatibus defatigatus.
In the epitaph in Esens , however, Agnes became clearer:
"He was taken away from this valley of misery by inciting the ill-favored without number"
- The graphic Licham zu Cölln licht buried the Manlich tribe helmet and shield to beclagen so genome from the Jamertahl by donating the Musgustgen without Zal in Gottis has pelted the soul and he pays no attention to evil deceit.
- The count's corpse is buried in Cologne, the male tribe with helmet and shield to lament. So taken away from this vale of misery, by inciting resentment without number. The soul has rest in God who does not respect evil deceit.
What the ultimate motivation for commissioning this extraordinary picture will probably remain unclear.
interpretation
Although the picture is structured rhythmically and it is about a family, there is enormous tension between the individual figures. One can actually speak of a two-fold couple portrait . What is striking is the contrast between parents and daughters, which explains the art dealers' saw cut. On both sides there is one person who is in the foreground: Johann II and Armgard and thus the second moves into the background: Agnes von Bentheim and Steinfurt and Walburgis. (Pieper) It is a family portrait that shows the viewer a perfect idyll or a perfect ideal of a strong, dominantly caring father, a pious and disciplined mother and two loving sisters. And, you don't even need to know the historical circumstances to feel that something has broken. Paul Pieper believes it is a "bridal advertisement" of the Rietberg family who are looking for a bridegroom for Armgard von Rietberg. After Johann II died in captivity in 1562, the countess and her daughters lost their fiefdom in Rietberg and had to move to Aurich. In order to regain ownership, the eldest daughter Armgard was supposed to be married at the age of 13, because only one man could hold the position of Count von Rietberg. Géza Jászai thinks it is a question of condolence from the wife to the deceased husband in the form of an "exemplary memorial picture". Susanne Schulte thinks that it is a PR campaign by Countess Agnes von Rietberg in the dispute over her East Westphalian fiefdom against Landgrave Philipp of Hesse .
Story of the picture
The picture came to England by an unknown route and was probably sawn into four parts by art dealers in the 19th century in order to be able to sell it better. It is mainly thanks to the art historian Paul Pieper that it has come together again in this form. In 1954 he bought the painting of Armgard and Walburgis (83 × 56.5 cm) by the painter Hermann tom Ring for £ 10,000 at an auction at Sotheby’s . In doing so, he exceeded his limit by £ 4,000. Head of Culture, State Councilor Robert Paasch, could not bridge the 37,000 DM too much. The conclusion of a 'crisis meeting' with the head of administration was the decision to send a circular to interested personalities and institutions from industry and business in Westphalia to ask for help. In a very short time, donations and commitments were received in excess of 80,000 DM. With the additional money Pieper bought two bars from Hermann's father, Ludger tom Ring the Elder. Ä., From a cycle about the cathedral with the depictions of Sibylla Frigia and Milesius, Apollo of Miletus. Today the picture is worth many times what was paid back then. The general interest in this acquisition led to the establishment of the Society for the Promotion of Westphalian Cultural Work , which still exists today. In 1958, the art historian and dealer David Graham Carritt (1927–1982) discovered the portrait of Count John II in Norfolk, England , who served as Lord Darnley in an ancestral gallery , which was then bought by the Westphalian State Museum. This made it certain that it had originally been a portrait of a four with the parents and two daughters. After only the two pictures of the Countesses von Rietberg , also known as the Rietberg girls , and their father were on view in the State Museum in Münster for over 30 years, the third was found in the catalog of a Sotheby's auction in Monte Carlo in 1989. Since the picture of Agnes von Bentheim and Steinfurt , which was sawn to a size of 35.5 cm × 30 cm for symmetrical reasons, the Countess' hands are missing. In addition, the picture was painted over. This deficit is bridged with a neutral retouching. The question of what the countess is holding in her hands, which Count Johann is pointing to with his gloved hand, which would give the clear interpretation in the picture, will probably remain open.
“One can only guess what it may have been. Was it a prayer book similar to the one that the younger daughter Walburg is holding? Or a crucifix? From the edge of her right sleeve, which has been preserved next to her husband, we can only conclude that she had unwrapped her arms like Ermengard, perhaps with her hands clasped. "
Second picture of Armgard von Rietberg
Around 1957, the state archivist Dr. E. Kittel knows another picture of Armgard von Rietberg. The picture is located in Detmold Castle and is shown around 20 years later. As with all rulers of the House of Lippe, the background was later gilded.
“If you compare the faces, however, the change from the youth portrait to that of the prematurely aged woman is shocking. The seriousness and concern that Hermann tom Ring communicated to his model have been turned into bitter and grief-stricken, painful premonitions of death are believed to be read from these features. The face has become very narrow, tightly framed by the "Spanish" ruff, the mouth small and somewhat pinched, the nose sharp and with the same wide wings, the eyes dull. But the jewelry is still the same as that which the thirteen-year-old wears, even if not in every detail. The triple gold chain appears to be the same. The robe helped develop the fashion that the sister wears on her death bed in Esens. "
literature
- Paul Pieper: Contributions to the Art History of Westphalia , Volume 2, Münster 2000, ISBN 3-402-05422-1 .
- Theodor Riewerts and Paul Pieper: The painter tom Ring. Ludger the Elder. Hermann. Ludger the Younger , Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1960.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Pieper 2000, p. 331.
- ↑ Pieper 2000, p. 328.
- ↑ http://www.gwk-online.de/ (PDF; 20 kB).
- ↑ http://www.gwk-online.de/ (PDF; 30 kB).
- ↑ Der Spiegel 9/1956: Art trade. Münster is shopping .
- ^ Society for the promotion of Westphalian cultural work: The Rietberg picture .
- ↑ Pieper 2000, p. 322.
- ↑ artnet .
- ↑ Pieper 2000, p. 324.
- ↑ Pieper 2000, p. 336.
