3250
Ellenrieder, Marie
1791 Konstanz - 1863 ibid.
Allegories of piety and meekness.
Oil on paper, mounted on light cardboard. Signed lower middle, dated 1861 and inscribed «pinx.». Verso signed again and inscribed «pinx.».
H 13,2, W 11,2 cm (sheet),
H 14,2, W 12,3 cm (cardboard). Elaborate frame.
Two young ladies with a hairstyle in accordance with the Biedermeier taste sit next to each other in a close posture of friendly intimacy and affectionate familiarity. They sit in a park landscape under a light blue sky and seem to be engaged in a profound conversation, their left hands trustingly clasped together. Perhaps they are just recovering from a walk in the greenery, or perhaps they are pausing while reciting a book of poetry.
A closer look at the œuvre of the Constance artist Marie Ellenrieder brings a possible allegorical interpretation of the ladies into focus. She often depicted abstract, ideal concepts such as gentleness, humility or piety in the form of female symbolic figures, not always provided with clear attributes. Appointed court painter of Baden in 1829, Marie Ellenrieder distinguished herself both as a portraitist of southwest German aristocrats and as a creator of religious masterpieces in the style of the Nazarenes, whose circle she joined during a stay in Rome in the early 1820s. Among her most famous works are the portraits of the Prince and Princess zu Fürstenberg and the altarpiece of the church of St. Stephan in Karlsruhe. The present work is set in a fully gilded original frame of the time with romantic rose vines and fluted mouldings.
Authentication: We would like to thank Prof. Dr. Edwin Fecker, Ettlingen, for the kind remarks via E-Mail, based on photos, 24.06.2021.
Provenance: private property of the family of Neveu, Durbach.
Catalogue raisonné: Fischer/Blanckenhagen 288 (cf.).

Condition report