This portrait Leonilla was done by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Leonilla Bariatinskaia Princess of Sayn Wittgenstein Sayn (1843), oil on canvas, 142 × 212 cm, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. About the Artist : Franz Xaver Winterhalter, ( 1805 – 1873) was a German painter and lithographer, known for his portraits of royalty in the mid-nineteenth century. His name has become associated with fashionable court portraiture. Among his best known works are Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting (1855) and the portraits he made of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1865). About the Subject : Leonilla Bariatinskaya, was a Russian aristocrat who married Ludwig, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. Known for her great beauty and intellect, Princess Leonilla was the subject of a number of portraits by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Winterhalters portraits : Known for her great beauty and intellect, Princess Leonilla was the subject of a number of portraits by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The most famous of these is the one currently at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It is signed and dated in 1843 in the pillar on the right. Winterhalter opted for a daring portrait, unusual in his oeuvre, both in conception and format. Princess Leonilla appears reclined on a low Turkish sofa on a veranda overlooking a lush tropical landscape, possibly the Wittgenstein palace in the Crimea, even though the portrait was painted in Paris. Her pose is reminiscent of harem scenes and odalisque. It was probably inspired by Jacques-Louis Davids portrait of Madame Récamier (1800) and Ingress Grande Odalisque (1819). The Princess is wearing a luxurious gown of ivory silk moiré with a pink sash around her waist. A deep purple mantle wraps around her back and falls across her arms. She gazes languidly at the viewer while she toys with the large pearls around her neck in an indolent gesture, reinforcing the sensuality of the model. Winterhalter contrasted the sumptuous fabrics and vivid colors against the Princesss alabaster flesh to heighten the sensuality of the pose, the model, and the luxuriant setting. Courtesy : Wikipedia
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 06:07:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015