6667 - Bury, Johann Friedrich

Bury, Johann Friedrich Crown Princess Auguste of Hesse-Kassel, copying the Sistine Madonna. Watercolor and opaque paints. 23.4 x 18.1 cm. Circa 1808. The painter Friedrich Bury lived and worked in Rome from 1782 to 1799, where he shared an apartment with Wilhelm Tischbein for several years and subsequently became part of Goethe’s inner circle, eventually becoming his housemate as well. In Rome, Bury drew extensively from classical models and became known for his watercolor copies of works by Michelangelo, Raphael, and the Carracci. After his return to Germany, he worked for several years in Berlin as a history painter and portraitist, among other things. Bury also had excellent connections to the Prussian court. He had a close relationship with the subject of this portrait, Augusta, née Princess of Prussia (1780–1841), a daughter of King Frederick William II, who had been married to Crown Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel since 1797. During the Napoleonic Wars, the princely couple was driven out of Kassel by the French in 1806 and found refuge at the Berlin court. There, Bury gave painting lessons to the princess and her sister Wilhelmine of Nassau-Oranien. King Frederick William III purchased from Bury a copy of Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, which hung above the monarch’s desk in the Red Corner Room of his palace. Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, who was herself an accomplished painter, was portrayed by Bury at least four times. Our watercolor shows her in half-length, seated before an easel while working on a copy of the Sistine Madonna. The princess is depicted in a remarkably informal manner: she wears a simple, dark dress with a lace collar, and a loose red shawl hangs from the back of her chair, covering her legs. In her left hand she holds her painter’s palette, while her raised right hand rests on the paintbrush holder. The painting on the easel shows only the upper third of Raphael’s famous altarpiece, the top edge of which is in turn overshadowed by the top of the easel. Bury’s composition engages in a witty, subtle interplay between two levels: the depicted figure and the picture within the picture. The painter has positioned Augusta so that she largely obscures the Madonna, while the infant Jesus seems to be nestling against the princess. She now wears Mary’s halo, and this attribute further ennobles her. Bury’s use of color is captivating. The deep ruby red of the cloth, adorned at the hems, forms a powerful, resonant contrast to the dark dress and the cool green and blue tones of the altarpiece, while the very finely modulated flesh tones and the sensitive rendering of the eyes, nose, and mouth draw the viewer’s gaze to Augusta’s beautifully formed face. Given the princess’s age at the time, this painting—which has retained its colors perfectly—is likely to have been created around 1808. Provenance: Werner Strähnz Collection, Leipzig (stamp twice on the reverse, Lugt 4643). Nicolaas Teeuwisse Art Gallery, Berlin (2006). Private collection, Berlin. Lit.: Katharina Bott (ed.): The Painter Friedrich Bury (1763–1823). Goethe’s “Second Fritz,” exhibition catalog, Hanau and Weimar 2013, p. 220, WVZ Gr 100. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.