Portrait of Christiane of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld
Historical Context
Ziesenis's Portrait of Christiane of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld from around 1760 may depict the same princess as the previous entry at a later date, or another member of the extended Zweibrücken family. The Wittelsbach-Zweibrücken branch produced numerous daughters who married into German Protestant courts, and Ziesenis documented many of them in the formal mode of German Rococo court portraiture. By 1760, Ziesenis was at the height of his reputation as the leading portraitist of the Hanoverian court circle.
Technical Analysis
The formal court portrait employs Ziesenis's characteristic combination of careful attention to the textures of silk, lace, and jewelry with a competent, clear-eyed rendering of the subject's physiognomy. The composition follows standard German Rococo portrait conventions.
