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After studying for four years with the legendary Parisian painter Jacques-Louis David, Christian Gottlieb Shick returned to Stuttgart in 1802. That year he began painting the portrait of Heinrike, the wife of his close friend and mentor Johannes Heinrich Dannecker. The home of the Danneckers was a living hub for art lovers filled with ancient sculpture replicas. Schic portrait of Heinrike wasn’t any portrait as her relaxed pose, appalled to a clear confidenence of gaze reflects a new sense of freedom for the woman, one that arose in the wake of the French Revolution. It’s no accident that Heinrike’s outfit subtly nods to the colors of the French flag red, white, and blue. And the bouquet she holds, with bellflowers, roses, buttercups, and clover, stands out vividly against her deep blue dress, hinting at an effortless beauty. Lady Heinrike sits on a stone reminiscent of ancient pillars, her figure extending elegantly beyond the horizon. Behind her, the landscape ravels horizons and mountain ranges down to a tranquil river valley Interestingly, an unfinished version of this ortrait—abandoned and trimmed by Shick himself—can still be found in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. |