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).

Anton von Werner, The Baptism in My House (1879)

  • Anton von Werner

Source

Source: Anton von Werner, Die Taufe in meinem Hause. Stephan als Taufpate [The Baptism in My House. Stephen as Godfather]. Oil painting (1879). Original: Museum für Kommunikation, Frankfurt am Main.
bpk-Bildagentur, image number 00012153. For rights inquiries, please contact Art Resource at requests@artres.com (North America) or bpk-Bildagentur at kontakt@bpk-bildagentur.de (for all other countries).

© bpk/ Museum für Kommunikation/ Lutz Braun