Stieler- Auguste Hilber - Zweite Version

Auguste Strobl (24 June 1807 - 22 January 1871,

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

) was a German beauty of the 19th century. The daughter of a royal chief accountant, she also appeared in the

Gallery of Beauties The Gallery of Beauties (german: Schönheitengalerie) is a collection of 36 portraits of the most beautiful women from the nobility and middle classes of Munich, Germany, painted between 1827 and 1850 (mostly by Joseph Karl Stieler, appointed co ...

gathered by Ludwig I of Bavaria.

Life

It is unknown how she came to Ludwig's attention, though he wrote poems to her and had her painted by the court painter

Joseph Karl Stieler Joseph Karl Stieler (1 November 1781 – 9 April 1858) was a German painter. From 1820 until 1855 he worked as royal court painter of the Bavarian kings. He is known for his Neoclassical portraits, especially for the Gallery of Beauties at Nymp ...

for his Gallery, but Stieler's first version chose a view that over-emphasised her goose-neck and displeased its commissioner. As Ludwig had wanted Strobl's beauty documented naturalistically, he forbade Stieler to amend this first version to correct or reduce the neck. Stieler had to paint her again, but this time in an uncomfortable position, with the neck somewhat hidden by a necklace. Ludwig briefly considered placing both Stieler's versions in his Gallery, but in the end only chose to take the second one. The first one was lost, perhaps being given back to the artist, until it resurfaced on the art market in 1976 and bought by Munich's Residenzmuseum. A miniaturepainting by Stieler of the second version is in a private collection. In 1831, with Ludwig's approval, she married the forester Hilber von

Ergoldsbach Ergoldsbach is a municipality in Bavaria, about 20 km north of Landshut and 80 km northeast of Munich in Germany. Geography Ergoldsbach is surrounded by many thick forests, in the hill country of the Landshut region, in Lower Bavaria. ...

, with whom she had 5 children. Ludwig visited her in 1835 and took this chance to address one last poem to her - he possibly offered her the first version of the painting to her as a present on this occasion, with it being refused. No other details of her life are known.

Bibliography

*Gerhard Hojer: ''Die Schönheitsgalerie König Ludwigs I.'' 2. neugestaltete Auflage, Schnell & Steiner, München 1983, {{DEFAULTSORT:Strobl, Auguste 1807 births 1871 deaths People from the Kingdom of Bavaria