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 Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, painted between 1827 and 1850 (mostly by

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 ...

, appointed court painter in 1820) and gathered by

Ludwig I of Bavaria en, Louis Charles Augustus , image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg , caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 , succession=King of Bavaria , reign = , coronation ...

in the south pavilion of his

Nymphenburg Palace The Nymphenburg Palace (german: Schloss Nymphenburg, Palace of the Nymphs) is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park it consti ...

in Munich.S. K. Ludovic
"A King's Gallery of Beauty"
''Strand Magazine'' (January 1902): 16-23. Two additional ones were created by Friedrich Dürck. Its best-known works are the portraits of the shoemaker's daughter

Helene Sedlmayr Helene Kreszenz Sedlmayr (12 February 1813, Trostberg – 18 November 1898, Munich) was a German beauty of the 19th century, considered the epitome of Munich's beauties. A shoemaker's daughter, she became known to Ludwig I of Bavaria en, Lo ...

, the actress Charlotte von Hagn (revered by audiences in Munich, Berlin and Saint Petersburg) and the king's Irish mistresses Eliza Gilbert (

Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig ...

) and Marianna Marquesa Florenzi. They include a Briton, a Greek, a Scot and an Israelite, along with relations of Ludwig's - the wife and daughter of Ludwig of Oettingen-Wallerstein were both painted, as was Ludwig I's daughter

Princess Alexandra of Bavaria Princess Alexandra Amalie of Bavaria (26 August 1826 – 21 September 1875) was a German princess and writer. Life Alexandra was born in Schloss Johannisburg in Aschaffenburg, the eighth child and fifth daughter of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and ...

. The collection was a late example of a fashion for such series, which includes an earlier one in Munich of beauties of the French court brought back from

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

by Maximilian II. Emanuel who had spent a period there. In England there are the

Windsor Beauties The Windsor Beauties are a set of portrait paintings, still in the Royal Collection, by Sir Peter Lely and his workshop, produced in the early to mid-1660s, that depict ladies of the court of King Charles II, some of whom were his mistresses. ...

, eleven of the King's mistresses painted by

Sir Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

in the 1660s, and the

Hampton Court Beauties The Hampton Court Beauties are a series of eight portraits by Sir Godfrey Kneller, commissioned by Queen Mary II of England, depicting the most glamorous ladies from the court of William III. They adorn the state rooms of King William III at ...

, a later set by Sir

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to Kingdom of England, English and Br ...

List

A list of the portraits follows:

References

External links

*{{Commons-inline, Schönheitengalerie Beauties Portraits by German artists Sets of portraits German paintings