Portrait of Nanna Risi
Anselm Feuerbach
Hans Thoma the museum director
Sought Italy, found a model
In 1855, after studying in Düsseldorf, Munich, Antwerp and Paris, the artist Anselm Feuerbach travelled to Italy, where he was to live for much of his life. After some years in Rome, he met Anna Risi, known as Nanna, a cobbler’s wife who became his favourite model.
Simple and moving
From 1861 to 1865, Feuerbach executed over twenty portraits and oil studies of Nanna Risi. In addition, he painted her in various role portraits, staged as a figure in Greek mythology or older Italian history and literature.
In the Karlsruhe portrait, regarded as especially impressive, Nanna does not seem to play a particular role. Feuerbach depicted his model in subdued colours, with calm, flat areas. Following the Old Masters, he worked without leaving visible brushstrokes on the painting’s surface.
Although Nanna’s body is almost directly facing the viewer, her head is turned to show her profile. Here, Feuerbach depicts her with no particular attributes or robes, and without any contextualising background. Her discreet jewellery, dark-red dress and the tulle-edged chemise visible at the neckline and in the wide sleeve seem, at most, slightly historicising.
Individual and ideal
With Nanna’s portrait filling the overall surface of the picture, viewers are led to focus intently on every nuance in her expression, posture and gestures. Her appeal and beauty are evident in the distinctive features of her rich, braided black hair, delicate complexion, finely shaped right hand and exposed neck.
At the same time, she seems aloof, mysterious and reserved. With her head in profile, her dreamy seriousness with a distant, slightly lowered gaze and eyes in shadow, and just minimal gestures expressing her inner state, she poses a riddle the viewer cannot resolve.
Yet the exceptional beauty and grandeur of the woman portrayed is only one aspect of the figure presented here. She also represents a classical ideal – and hence is not just a particular individual, but a universal idea as well. Her hand’s evocative gesture, found similarly in a somewhat later portrait of Nanna in the role of Iphigenia, suggests the Karlsruhe portrait with its mood of intense longing may already allude to that Greek mythological figure.
An important patron’s early appreciation
This painting is not just interesting for its content, but also its provenance.
Feuerbach painted the Karlsruhe Nanna Risi in early 1861. The same year, Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden, bought it for his private collection. The portrait was taken to Frederick’s private chambers in his palace on Mainau Island in Lake Constance.
The portrait’s mood might well have suited the location. Bought in 1853 as his summer residence, the palace was the Grand Duke’s private retreat.
Even before acquiring this portrait, Frederick had been interested in Feuerbach’s work. With considerable foresight, he was an early patron of the artist, supporting him privately – against the advice of his Art Commission – by buying his works and providing occasional stipends.
The growing appreciation of Feuerbach’s art was evident in the Berlin National Gallery’s memorial exhibition held directly after the artist’s death, the early publication of his biography and catalogue raisonné, and the acquisition of his works by private and public collections.
These were equally a driving force in establishing Feuerbach’s reputation, while the juicy details in stories of his relationship with Nanna Risi, also his lover and housekeeper, offered plenty to talk about, further enhancing the interest in his paintings.
Private and public collections
In 1906, Berlin’s National Gallery held a major exhibition celebrating a century of German art between 1775 and 1875.
The show, which offered an overview of art by the pioneers of modernity in German-speaking countries, also included the Karlsruhe portrait Nanna Risi. The painting’s appearance in the exhibition led to its enormous popularity, improved status in art history and increased monetary value. In the wake of this success, it seemed appropriate to move Nanna Risi to the Karlsruhe Gallery. There, shown with other Feuerbach paintings in the collection, it would also give a new emphasis to the Gallery’s importance.
In April 1907, a few months before his death, the Grand Duke transferred the painting as ducal private property to the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Feuerbach’s portrait of Nanna Risi thus illustrates the interplay between private collections, the ducal house as an art patron, and the strategy of public collections.
Basic data
| Title | Portrait of Nanna Risi |
|---|---|
| Artist | Anselm Feuerbach |
| Date | 1861 |
| Measurements Plastic | H 74.5cm W 62cm |
| Material | Oil on canvas |