Object Description
This is a truly splendid antique continental school oil on canvas portrait painting of Queen Louise of Prussia, in the manner of Josef Grassi and late 18th century in date.
This beautiful oil painting depicts a shoulder length portrait of a young Queen in a blue lace dress with a gold tiara.
It is housed in it’s magnificent original oval frame that is painted gray/blue with gilt highlights with ribbon cresting, and this adds extra splendour to this remarkable work of art.
Condition:
In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 54 x Width 44 x Depth 2.5 – Frame
Height 50 x Width 40 – Painting
Dimensions in inches:
Height 1 foot, 9 inches x Width 1 foot, 5 inches x Depth 1 inch – Frame
Height 1 foot, 8 inches x Width 1 foot, 4 inches – Painting
Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie; 10 March 1776 – 19 July 1810) was Queen of Prussia as the wife of King Frederick William III. The couple’s happy, though short-lived, marriage produced nine children, including the future monarchs Frederick William IV of Prussia and Wilhelm I, German Emperor.
Her legacy became cemented after her extraordinary 1807 meeting with French Emperor Napoleon I at Tilsit – she met with the emperor to plead unsuccessfully for favourable terms after Prussia’s disastrous losses in the Napoleonic Wars. She was already well loved by her subjects, but her meeting with Napoleon led Louise to become revered as “the soul of national virtue”. Her early death at the age of thirty-four “preserved her youth in the memory of posterity”, and caused Napoleon to reportedly remark that the king “has lost his best minister”. The Order of Louise was founded by her grieving husband four years later as a female counterpart to the Iron Cross. In the 1920s, conservative German women founded the Queen Louise League.
Josef Grassi was an Austrian portrait and history painter. His middle name is usually given as “Maria”, although there is evidence that it was actually “Mathias”. He is also called “Giuseppe Grassi”.
Our reference: A3149