1061 - Joseph Stieler

Joseph Stieler Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria as a bride Oil on canvas (relined). 72.5 x 58.5 cm. Certificate Dr. Ulrike von Hase-Schmundt, December 2020. Provenance Estate of Adelgunde, Duchess of Modena (1914). – Royal House of Bavaria. – Transferred to Nádasdy Castle in Sárvár, Hungary, in 1924. – Following Hungary’s accession to the EU in 2004, the rightful heirs entered into restitution negotiations with the Hungarian state. - Restitution to Princes Ludwig and Rasso of Bavaria 2004. - Neumeister, Munich, Special Auction ‘ART IN EXILE – The Wittelsbachs in Sárvár, the final residence of King Ludwig III’, 15 March 2021, Lot 65. Princess Adelgunde Auguste Charlotte of Bavaria was the sixth child of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and his wife Therese, née Princess of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In 1842, she married Crown Prince Franz of Modena and thus later became the aunt of Queen Marie Therese of Bavaria, the wife of King Ludwig III. Princess Adelgunde, known as ‘Duni’, was brought up as a Catholic. From among several prospective suitors from France, Coburg and Nassau, the choice fell on Franz of Modena, a nephew of Maria Leopoldine, the widow of the Bavarian Elector Karl Theodor. The wedding in 1842 was a major social event. Adelgunde lived alternately at the Palais Modena in Vienna, the Munich Residenz and Wildenwart Castle in the Chiemgau region. After her brother Prince Luitpold assumed the regency in 1886, she stood by his side closely. Known as ‘Aunt Modena’, she supported him in his family and social obligations and was one of the most influential representatives of the conservative, church-oriented court faction. At the same time, she embodied the influence of the Viennese court in Munich. Joseph Stieler had already painted a portrait of Adelgunde in 1839. The commission for this portrait is documented in Ludwig I’s expenditure ledger for March 1842 and is also recorded in Stieler’s catalogue of works for sale. In the same year, the portrait was first exhibited to the public in Stieler’s studio. On 7.4.1842, the "Morgenblatt für gebildete Stände / Kunstblatt" reported on the exhibition of the princess’s portrait. It was subsequently presented at the Munich Art Association as ‘Portrait of Her Royal Highness Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria as a bride’. Nádasdy castle had been in the possession of the House of Wittelsbach since 1875. In 1921, the last Bavarian king, Ludwig III, died there in exile. In 1945, the family fled Hungary and were forced to leave behind numerous works of art.