Beauty gallery
The beauty gallery of King Ludwig I in the inner southern pavilion of Nymphenburg Palace comprises 38 portrait paintings of Munich women of both aristocratic and middle-class origin, almost all of which were painted by Joseph Karl Stieler , who was appointed court painter in 1820. Between 1827 and 1850, Stieler created the famous gallery of beauties in Nymphenburg Palace for King Ludwig. Those portrayed included the dancer Lola Montez , the king's lover, the shoemaker's daughter Helene Sedlmayr , the actress Charlotte von Hagn , who at the time was adored by audiences in Munich, Berlin and St. Petersburg , and Marianna Marquesa Florenzi , a confidante of the king.
Previous collections
The idea of collecting paintings of beautiful women in a gallery was not an invention of Ludwig I, but seems to come from Italy. According to the earliest records, one of the Marquis of Mantua should have owned such a collection in the 17th century. Something similar is reported from the courts of the Tyrolean Archduke Ferdinand II ( Ruhelust Castle ) and Lorenzo Colonna ( Carnesino Castle near Como ).
Peter Lely (1618–1680) painted a series of ladies-in- waiting for Anne Hyde under the title The Windsor Beauties , which first hung in Windsor Castle and later moved to Hampton Court Palace . There you will also find the Hampton Court Beauties , which were created by Godfrey Kneller around 1690 .
The gallery of originally 40 works, which the Bavarian Electress Henriette Adelheid of Savoy had made by her Munich court painter Corlando between 1650 and 1675 , had a far greater influence on Ludwig I. The gallery probably first hung in the old Schleissheim Palace and is now at least partly in the vestibule of the Cuvilliés Theater in Munich. The motifs are allegories of presumed court ladies of Henriette Adelheid.
Not only Ludwig I, but also her son, Elector Maximilian II. Emanuel , was inspired by these works. In his Schönheitengalerie were found The most beautiful ladies of the French court from the time of Louis XIV. By his court painter Pierre Gobert (or a copy shop ), but also beauty of the Italian nobility (Marchesa d'Oliano, Countess di Rivalta), the Corlando be attributed. The latter could also come from the Henriette Adelheids gallery.
Elector August II of Saxony had several galleries with beauties in Pillnitz Castle : one with the ladies-in-waiting of Maria II of England, created by students of Anthony van Dyck , one by Pietro Rotari (1707–1762), whom he invited to Dresden in 1750, and possibly another one with beautiful Polish women.
In all of the beauty galleries mentioned so far, no relationship between ruler and motif can be seen. Landgrave Wilhelm VIII of Hesse-Kassel had 28 beauties painted by Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder - 14 bourgeois for the first anteroom of Wilhelmsthal Palace , 14 aristocratic for the second closer to him. These models were known to Wilhelm VIII, they were not portraits (or even copies of existing works) of unknown ladies from other courts, as was customary in the previous beauty galleries.
Probably the largest gallery of beauties comes from Rotari. Tsarina Elisabeth I commissioned the painter from Verona, who had been her court painter since 1756, to create a cabinet of fashions and graces . He was supposed to paint young women who depicted the diversity of the peoples of Russia . In the course of this commission, Rotaris not only created 360 pictures of middle-class Russian women for Elisabeth, but also an additional 50, which she gave away to the Russian Art Academy . Elisabeth's pictures were intended for Peterhof Palace ; Today around 40 of the works can be found in Arkhangelskoye Palace near Moscow .
Emergence
Before the creation of the Schönheitengalerie, there had been a small scandal around 1817 because of two works by Joseph Karl Stieler . He had painted a portrait of Countess Rambaldi , a mistress of the king , for Ludwig I. This memorial picture, which allegorically depicts the Countess as a Madonna in order to anonymize her, hung next to a portrait of Crown Prince Ludwig I. However, the public recognized the motif and was outraged. Thereupon the portrait of the Crown Prince was removed again, which Nathanael von Schlichtegroll described in a letter to Georg Issel as a “masterpiece”.
The excitement over this picture was probably one of the reasons why Ludwig I decided to create an anonymous gallery, which was first mentioned in 1821. At this time, Stieler, still a court painter without a fixed salary, offered pictures of Madame Lang and Adelaide Schiasetti for Ludwig's collection of beautiful heads . However, both works did not make it into the gallery. However, Ludwig I acquired the latter portrait of the Roman opera singer in 1823 for the Munich art exhibition. According to the king's wishes, the gallery was primarily intended to be a collection of patriotic beauties, in which, however, foreign women were also represented; and posterity should be able to recognize from her how the character of feminine beauty was expressed at that time.
With the beginning of his expansion of the Munich Residence , Ludwig I planned the rooms in which the collection would hang in 1826. The plan for the rooms envisaged red and green stucco marble in broad, horizontal layers for the walls, which should be completed with a base zone of around 80 centimeters. The coffered ceiling and door panels were decorated with tendril ornaments . In 1828, in a letter to Johann Georg von Dillis, he named the first ten works that were to be exhibited in the two conversation rooms under construction :
- Marianna Marquesa Florenzi
- Isabella Countess of Tauffkirchen-Engelberg
- Charlotte von Hagn
- Auguste Strobl (2)
- Antonietta Cornelia Vetterlein
- Maximiliane Borzaga
- Nanette Kaulla
- Regina Daxenberger
- Anna Hillmayer
It was these ten pictures that were presented to the public in 1829 as part of an art exhibition together with Stieler's portrait of Goethe . The picture of Nanette Kaulla was not finished at this point. In addition to these ten portraits, more were added, so that when they moved in in 1835, 17 portraits could be exhibited that had been created in the last eight years or so:
- Amalie Freiin von Krüdener
- Lady Jane Ellenborough
- Amalia von Schintling
- Helene Sedlmayr
- Crescentia Princess of Öttingen-Öttingen and Wallerstein
- Irene Marquise of Pallavicini
- Caroline Countess of Holnstein
In the next 15 years up to 1850, Stieler made the missing 19 portraits and completed his work with the portraits of Lola Montez and Maria Dietsch. Cosmetic corrections were made to the latter, as Dietsch was, in Stieler's opinion, “not an excellent beauty”.
The artist also had difficulties with his penultimate work for the gallery, the portrait of Lola Montez: he feared the public reaction, which did not care much for Montez. Ludwig I had to ask him several times in 1846 to paint it. He finally painted her in the costume of a Spanish dancer, with a relatively bare upper body and a mask in hand. Ludwig I was angry about the motif and had it painted again in black velvet. The king was also not enthusiastic about the result of this work by Stieler, whose motivation was rather low: "Your brush is getting old" , criticized Ludwig. Stieler replied to the king: "But beautiful enough for an old brush".
This also applied to Marianna Marquesa Florenzi from Florence, from whom Ludwig I repeatedly sought advice, including in matters of state. When she was told that the picture of this Lola Montez was now hanging next to her portrait , she categorically demanded in one of her 3,000 letters to him (he wrote about 1,500) that her picture should be removed and threatened to withdraw her favor otherwise.
In 1861, Ludwig commissioned Stieler's nephew and student Friedrich Dürck (1809–1884) to create two more portraits for the collection. This is how the only two pictures in the collection that did not come directly from Stieler were created: Anna von Greiner and Carlotta Freiin von Breidbach-Bürresheim .
Since the ballroom building was destroyed during the Second World War , the collection moved to the small dining room of Nymphenburg Palace. It was originally planned that they would soon take their place in the residence again.
The paintings
Among those portrayed are members of different peoples, such as a Greek, British, Scottish and Israelite, as well as family ties: Both the wife and daughter of Ludwig von Oettingen-Wallerstein were painted; at Alexandra of Bavaria is a daughter of Louis.
| Surname | Life dates | husbands | Dimensions | year | Illustration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auguste Strobl | (1807-1871) | Anton Hilber, forester (⚭ 1831) | 72.5 x 59.2 cm | 1827 |
 |
| Maximiliane Borzaga | (1806-1837) | Joseph Krämer, doctor in Kreuth (⚭ 1830) | 72 × 58 cm | 1827 |
 |
| Isabella Countess of Tauffkirchen-Engelberg | (1808–1855) | Count Hector von Kwilecky (⚭ 1830) | 72 × 59.8 cm | 1828 |
 |
| Amalie von Lerchenfeld | (1808-1888) | Baron Alexander von Krüdener (⚭ 1825–1852) Count Nikolai Wladimirowitsch Adlerberg (⚭ 1855) |
72.2 x 59 cm | 1828 |
 |
| Antonietta Cornelia Vetterlein | (1811-1862) | Baron Franz Ludwig Friedrich von Künsberg auf Hain-Schmeilsdorf (⚭ 1843) |
72.5 x 59.2 cm | 1828 |
 |
| Charlotte von Hagn | (1809-1891) | Alexander von Oven, landowner (⚭ 1848–1851) | 73.2 × 59.5 cm | 1828 |
 |
| Nanette Kaulla | (1812–1876) | Salomon Joseph Heine (1803–1863), banker (⚭ 1834) | 72.2 x 59 cm | 1829 |
 |
| Anna Hillmayer | (1812-1847) | remained unmarried | 71.7 x 58.4 cm | 1829 |
 |
| Regina Daxenberger | (1811-1872) | Heinrich Fahrenbacher (⚭ 1832) | 70 x 58.9 cm | 1829 |
 |
| Jane Elizabeth Digby | (1807-1881) |
Eward Law, 2nd Baron and 1st Earl of Ellenborough (⚭ 1824–1830) Baron Karl von Veningen-Ulner (⚭ 1834) |
72 × 58 cm | 1831 |
 |
| Marianna Countess Bacinetti | (1802-1870) | Ettore Marchese Florenzi (⚭ 1819) Evelyn Waddington (⚭ 1836) |
71.6 x 58.4 cm | 1831 |
 |
| Amalie von Schintling | (1812-1831) | Fritz von Schintling (engaged, died of tuberculosis before the wedding ) | 72 × 58.5 cm | 1831 |
 |
| Helene Sedlmayr | (1813-1898) | Valet Hermes Miller (⚭ 1832) | 71.4 x 58.2 cm | 1831 |
 |
| Crescentia Bourgin | (1806-1853) | Prince Ludwig Kraft of Oettingen-Wallerstein (⚭ 1823) | 72 × 58 cm | 1833 |
 |
| Irene Margravine Pallavicini | (1811-1877) | Count Aloys von Arco-Stepperg (⚭ 1830) (son of Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este ) | 72 x 58.2 cm | 1834 |
 |
|
Caroline Freiin von Spiering |
(1815-1859) | Theodor Graf von Holnstein from Bavaria (1797–1857, ⚭ 1831) Wilhelm Freiherr von Künsberg von Fronberg (1801–1874, ⚭ 1857) |
71.5 × 58 cm | 1834 |
 |
| Jane Erskine | (1818-1846) | James Henry Callander, Esquire of Craigforth (⚭ 1837) | 72 x 57.9 cm | 1837 |
 |
| Theresa Renard | (1815–?) | Mr. Spence | 72 × 57.8 cm | 1837 |
 |
| Mathilde Freiin von Jordan | (1817-1886) | Baron Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust (⚭ 1843) | 72 × 59 cm | 1837 |
.jpg) |
| Wilhelmine Sulzer | (1819–?) | Karl Schneider, Registrar (⚭ 1838) | 72 × 59 cm | 1838 |
 |
| Luise Freiin von Neubeck | (1816–1872) | Canon of the Heilig-Geist-Spital (1870–1872) | * missing since 1936 | 1839 | |
| Antonia Wallinger | (1823-1893) | Councilor Friedrich von Ott (⚭ 1860) | 72.3 x 58.8 cm | 1840 |
 |
| Rosalie Julie von Wüllerstorf-Urbair | (1814–?) | Baron Ernst von Bonar, British envoy in Vienna (⚭ 1834) | 72 x 58.2 cm | 1840 |
 |
| Sophie Princess of Bavaria | (1805–1872) | Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (⚭ 1824) | 72 × 59 cm | 1841 |
 |
| Katharina Botzaris | (1820–1872) | Prince Georg Karadja (⚭ 1845) | 72.4 x 59 cm | 1841 |
 |
| Caroline Lizius | (1825–1908) | Karl Albert von Stobäus, Legation Councilor (⚭ 1849) | 71 × 59.4 cm | 1842 |
 |
| Elise List | (1822-1893) | Gustav Pacher of Theinburg (⚭ 1845) | 70.3 x 59.2 cm | 1842 |
 |
| Marie Princess of Prussia | (1825-1889) | Crown Prince Maximilian (II.) Of Bavaria (⚭ 1842) | 71.7 x 58 cm | 1843 |
 |
| Friederike Freiin von Gumppenberg | (1823-1916) | Ludwig Freiherr von Gumppenberg , her cousin (⚭ 1857) | 70 × 59.4 cm | 1843 |
 |
| Caroline Princess of Oettingen-Wallerstein | (1824-1889) | Hugo Graf Waldbott von Bassenheim (⚭ 1843) | 71 × 59.5 cm | 1843 |
 |
| Emily Lady Mansfield | (1822-1910) | Sir John Milbanke, British envoy in Munich (⚭ 1843) | 71 × 59 cm | 1844 |
 |
| Josepha Reh | (1825-1881) | Anton Conti (⚭ 1840, left by him in 1845) Anton Schirsner, District Judge in der Au (⚭ 1856) |
71.5 × 58.5 cm | 1844 |
 |
| Alexandra Princess of Bavaria | (1826-1875) | Abbess of the royal women's monasteries St. Anna in Munich and Würzburg | 70.5 x 59.2 cm | 1845 |
 |
| Auguste Archduchess of Austria | (1825–1864) | Prince Luitpold of Bavaria (⚭ 1844) | 70.2 × 59 cm | 1845 | |
| Lola Montez | (1821–1861) | Thomas James, officer three more |
72 × 58.6 cm | 1847 |
|
| Maria Dietsch | (1835–1869) | Georg Sprecher, editor-in-chief of the Augsburger Abendzeitung (⚭ 1865) | 73 × 59 cm | 1850 |
 |
| Anna Bartelmann | (1836–?) | Emil von Greiner (from 1861 to 1865) | 1861 |
 |
|
| Carlotta Freiin von Breidbach-Bürresheim | (1838-1920) | Count Philipp Boos zu Waldeck (⚭ 1863) | 1861 |
 |
reception
In the 1840s, Heinrich Heine wrote the following lines in his hymns of praise to King Ludwig about Ludwig I and his gallery of beauties:
Moritz Gottlieb Saphir published the poem The Two Roses in February 1828 , which deals with the portrait of Amalie Adlerberg.
literature
- Ulrike von Hase-Schmundt: Joseph Stieler: 1781–1858. His life u. his work. Crit. Directory d. Works . Prestel, Munich 1971, ISBN 3-7913-0340-6 , p. 94 ff.
- Constantine Prince of Bavaria : The King's most beautiful ladies. From the beauty gallery of Ludwig I. Süddeutscher Verlag, 1980, ISBN 3-7991-6087-6
- Gerhard Hojer: The beauty gallery of King Ludwig I. 4th edition Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg, 1997. (1st edition 1979)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kisses for the foot of Venus . Monuments online, December 2007; Retrieved February 4, 2008
- ↑ Hans Reidelbach : King Ludwig I of Bavaria and his artistic creations, 1887/1888, p. 231
- ↑ books.google.de
- ↑ golfsengct.de
- ↑ Egon Cesar Conte Corti: Ludwig I von Bayern , 1937 cited In: Gerhard Hojer: The beauty gallery of King Ludwig I. 2nd revised edition 1973, Schnell & Steiner, Munich. P. 19/20 and P. 70.
- ^ August-Horch-Schule Münchberg: Cornelia Vetterlein was born in Münchberg in 1811
- ^ House of Bavarian History : Lady Theresa Spence geb. Renard (1837)
- ^ House of Bavarian History : Friederica Catharina called Wilhelmine Sulzer (1838)
- ^ House of Bavarian History : Luise Freiin von Neubeck (1839)
- ^ House of Bavarian History : Elise List (1842)
- ^ House of Bavarian History : Lady Emily Milbanke (1844)
- ^ House of Bavarian History : Auguste Ferdinande Princess of Bavaria (1845)
- ^ House of Bavarian History : Anna von Greiner (1861)
- ^ Heinrich Heine, poems / gleanings / contemporary poems - hymns of praise to King Ludwig: 1. This is Mr. Ludwig von Bayerland . zeno.org, accessed May 30, 2008