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A Jacobite Gazetteer - BavariaMunich - Lenbachhaus |
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The Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus is an art museum located at Luisenstraße 33. The museum is housed in the former Villa Lenbach which was originally built as the home of the German painter Franz von Lenbach.1 During a period of over thirty years Lenbach painted numerous portraits of the Royal Family.
In 1882 Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, husband of Queen Mary IV and III, commissioned Lenbach to paint a portrait of his family. Lenbach produced three versions all in oil on canvas: one owned by the Lenbachhaus (200 x 161 cm), one by the City Hall of Schrobenhausen (198 x 158 cm), and one by the Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds (198 x 161 cm).2 The version in the Lenbachhaus is the most complete. It shows Queen Mary and Prince Ludwig with their eight eldest children: Rupert standing to the left of his mother with Karl and Franz before him, Wolfgang with a hat, Hildegard on her mother's lap, Maria at her mother's knees, Adelgunde standing in front of her father, and Mathilde at the far right. The Lenbachhaus also owns several preparatory works for the family portrait. These include a pastel sketch on paper of Queen Mary and Prince Ludwig (40 x 36.5 cm), an oil on canvas painting of Queen Mary (80 x 72.5 cm), a pastel sketch on paper of Prince Ludwig standing (32 x 18 cm), and a pastel sketch on paper of Queen Mary standing (32 x 20 cm). The oil portrait of Queen Mary shows her seated in three-quarter profile looking right; she is portrayed in a similar pose to that in the family portrait, but she appears more regal. |
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The Lenbachhaus owns a pastel sketch on paper (72.5 x 56.5 cm) identified as "Nurse with child" (Amme mit Kind); it has been dated to the 1880s. It is very possible that this is in fact Princess Mathilde with her nurse.
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In 1890 Lenbach was commissioned to paint another family portrait for Queen Mary and King Ludwig. The Lenbachhaus owns an oil on paper portrait of Prince Rupert (66 x 33 cm); this was a preparatory study for the family portrait. The family oil on canvas portrait (104 x 144 cm) is now in a private collection in Penzberg. |
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The Lenbachhaus owns a pastel on paper sketch (57.5 x 48.5 cm) of Princess Maria and a pastel on paper sketch of Princess Mathilde (56.5 x 49 cm). The sketch of Princess Maria was done in 1897, and that of Princess Mathilde in 1900; presumably they were both sketched just before their respective weddings.
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Notes 1 Franz von Lenbach was born at Schrobenhausen, December 13, 1836, and died at Munich, May 6, 1904. 2 A reproduction of the version owned by the Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds can be seen in Hubert Glaser, Ludwig III. König von Bayern: Skizzen aus seiner Lebensgeschichte (Prien: Verkehrsverband Chiemsee, 1995), 84. This painting now hangs in a private area at Schloss Berchtesgaden; cf. Dieter J. Weiß, Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern (1869-1955): Eine politische Biografie (Regensburg: Friedrich Pustet, 2007), 368. Image 1 (The Family of Queen Mary IV and III, 1882): Sonja Mehl, Franz von Lenbach in der Städtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus, München (München: Prestel, 1980), 188. Image 2 (Sketch of Queen Mary and Prince Ludwig): Ibid., 189. Image 3 (Queen Mary IV and III): Ibid., 190. Image 4 (Sketch of nurse and child): Ibid., 233. Image 5 (Rupert, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay): Ibid., 190. Image 6 (The Family of Queen Mary IV and III, 1890, now in Penzberg): Franz von Lenbach und die Kunst Heute (Köln: Dumont, 2003), 125. Image 7 (Princess Maria): Mehl, 191. Image 8 (Princess Mathilde): Ibid., 192. This page is maintained by Noel S. McFerran (noel.mcferran@rogers.com) and was last updated February 28, 2009. |