Pendants: King Ludwig I of Bavaria at his desk – Queen Therese of

Details

Provenienz:
Privatbesitz, Süddeutschland.

Description

Kreul stayed intermittently in the royal seat of Munich from the end of 1825 to 1827. It can be assumed that he executed these large-format pastel portraits of the Bavarian royal couple during these years. Ludwig I (1786-1868) is shown in a blue uniform draped with medals, sitting at his desk, thus exercising his “profession as a ruler”. Since the king probably never sat for Kreul, the latter presumably used Josef Stieler’s portrait of him in coronation regalia (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen – Neue Pinakothek, Munich, inv. no. 1062) as a model for the correct rendering of the royal countenance. Queen Therese of Bavaria, née Princess of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1792-1854), has taken a seat, like her husband, on a gilded, velvet-covered armchair, the armrests of which are supported by two sculpted lions. The lion motif can be read as a heraldic allusion to the Bavarian royal house. In her hair she wears the famous pearl diadem by the Munich court jeweller Caspar Rieländer, which is now kept in a display case in the treasury of the Residenz, as well as pearl earrings and a single-stranded pearl necklace. – Minor abrasions in some areas, especially the margins, with some minor losses of pigment. A small hole in the feather-trimmed hat of the king. Some hairline surface scratches. Not examined out of the frame.