Anna Dorothea Lisiewska
Portrait of a Princely family
Anna Dorothea Lisiewska can be counted among the leading painters of the so-called Frederick's Rococo. The influences of Pesne and Watteau's style are clearly visible in the picture. Painted with delicateness, serenity and decorativeness of French rococo, the picture is also an example of a realistic family portrait, that developed in the 19th century together with the bourgeois culture. Relatively unidealized figures are imbued by delicate style regardless of their individual characters in the way that German Romantic sentiment has developed the elements of a style which originated in France.
The painting is also a good example of the portrait in the new-neoclassical style with a tendency to depict woman as mother mixing the sober, bourgeois view and sincerity with elegance and refined sensitivity. Lisiewska signed her work on a base of a vase at the left - A. D. Therbusch de Lisiewska Peintre du [...].
It depicts the family of Frederick William, Crown Prince of Prussia (1744–1797), future king of Prussia as Frederick William II, including his second wife Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (1751–1805), two sons and two daughters. From left to right the painting depicts Prince Frederick William (1770–1840), future Frederick William III, his father in an armchair, Prince Louis Charles (1773-1796), Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia (1774–1837) held by her mother Frederika Louisa and Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (1767-1820), future Duchess of York and Albany born by Frederick William's first wife Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1746-1840). The black urn in the center probably commemorates Princess Christine of Prussia (1772–1773).
The picture is clearly divided into two parts - male's and female's sphere, clearly splitting the roles. The first one is most somber and harsh, the other one more delicate and colorful with gently painted laces. Science and discoveries are the domain of a man, bringing up children is a female domain.
The painting was acquired in 1949 from unspecified collection in Wrocław and included in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw under the number 130686. It was displayed in the Nieborów Palace.
The painting is also a good example of the portrait in the new-neoclassical style with a tendency to depict woman as mother mixing the sober, bourgeois view and sincerity with elegance and refined sensitivity. Lisiewska signed her work on a base of a vase at the left - A. D. Therbusch de Lisiewska Peintre du [...].
It depicts the family of Frederick William, Crown Prince of Prussia (1744–1797), future king of Prussia as Frederick William II, including his second wife Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (1751–1805), two sons and two daughters. From left to right the painting depicts Prince Frederick William (1770–1840), future Frederick William III, his father in an armchair, Prince Louis Charles (1773-1796), Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia (1774–1837) held by her mother Frederika Louisa and Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (1767-1820), future Duchess of York and Albany born by Frederick William's first wife Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1746-1840). The black urn in the center probably commemorates Princess Christine of Prussia (1772–1773).
The picture is clearly divided into two parts - male's and female's sphere, clearly splitting the roles. The first one is most somber and harsh, the other one more delicate and colorful with gently painted laces. Science and discoveries are the domain of a man, bringing up children is a female domain.
The painting was acquired in 1949 from unspecified collection in Wrocław and included in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw under the number 130686. It was displayed in the Nieborów Palace.
oil on canvas, ca. 1777, 117 × 144 cm (46.1 × 56.7 in), inventory number M.Ob.1014, currently not on permanent display, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie (MNW)
© Marcin Latka
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