The painting of queen louise (1776-1810) of prussia was created in 1879 by the respected berlin portrait and genre painter gustav karl ludwig richter (1823-1884). The monumental portrait of the queen, created around 70 years after louise's death, was considered the most reproduced female portrait in prussian history until the weimar republic. With many different background designs, the extraordinarily popular depiction had an enormous impact. Richter's louise appeared as an oil print, on postcards and as a collector's card, as a book illustration and on gift packaging, on porcelain, tea towels, as a plaster statuette and in stained glass. The artist had created the oil painting on commission from cologne citizen karl joest with the permission of emperor wilhelm i, louise's second eldest son, as a donation to the wallraf-richartz museum. It can still be seen there today in the permanent exhibition (wrm 1256). According to tradition, baroness josephine von ziegler was the artist's model. In the role of queen louise in an amateur theater performance, she is said to have prompted the emperor to say "just like my mother. " the prussian queen, portrayed in the painting as a majestically beautiful figure bathed in light, resembled a marian apparition in her white empire dress with a blue velvet coat and gold star in her hair. By 1879 she had already become a figure of remembrance onto which one could project all one's longings and hopes. The most popular portrait of louise of all time was therefore a pure fantasy that had nothing to do with the historical person. It was therefore more suitable for pictorial use in the louise myth than any other. Date: 1879.
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