Abstract
This painting is by Anton von Werner (1843–1915), the Hohenzollern
dynasty’s preeminent painter of historical portraits and panoramas. It
depicts the baptism of the artist’s oldest son Fritz on February 10,
1879. Prussia’s Crown Princess Victoria—the daughter of England’s Queen
Victoria—and Prussian Postmaster General Heinrich von Stephan served as
godmother and godfather. Werner’s well-appointed Berlin villa on
Potsdamer Strasse and its “red salon”
[roter Salon] are shown here (his
studio was on the second floor). The artist himself is also featured, as
is his friend, the painter Ludwig Knaus (1829–1910), who appears in the
background. The smiling crown princess holds the child in her arms,
while her husband, Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm (the future Kaiser
Friedrich III), stands at center right (with full beard, holding his
helmet).