Oil on canvas, laid down on wood panel
Germany, 1878
Adolph Diedrich Kindermann (1823-1892) – German painter and photographer
Signed and dated ‘A. Kindermann 1878 ‘ on the lower edge of the canvas, folded over the wood panel
Dimensions: 139 x 118 cm
Impressive presentation of Germania with oak leaf wreath, imperial sword and shield, at her feet the imperial crown with which William I was crowned emperor
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In this work Adolph Diedrich Kindermann depict Germania, the national personification of Germany. In the typical manner of the Romantic period, she is shown as a Valkyrie-like young woman in a precious robe, her head crowned with a wreath of oak leaves. She is holding the imperial sword in her right hand and the shield with the imperial eagle in her left. At her feet lies the imperial crown with which William I was crowned emperor. Kindermann’s work is characterized by a skillful execution and fine painterly quality. Originally the present composition was presumably intended for a public building. In the 19th century representations of this kind were particularly popular as they were seen as symbols of the growing German nationalism.



The painting, originally framed as an oval, is cropped at the edges and mounted on a rectangular panel. In places the canvas is detached from the surface. There is craquelure and partial retouchings to the background, the clothes as well as the face and arms of the figure. The grain of the wood panel is slightly pushing through in places. The frame shows some wear. The framed work measures 155.5 x 133.5 cm, the wood panel measures 139 x 118 cm.

Adolph Diedrich Kindermann (1823-1892)

Born in Lübeck, Adolph Kindermann started his artistic education under Christian Peter Wilhelm Stolle. From 1843 onwards he attended the Academy in Dresden, where he was a pupil of Julius Hübner and Eduard Bendemann. For several years he worked as a portrait painter in Paris. Back in Germany he settled in Hamburg, where he worked as a painter and photographer. In 1871 the British naturalist Charles Darwin acquired several of Kindermann’s photographs. Some of his works are now in the collections of the Hamburger Kunsthalle and the Hamburg Museum. (tfa)

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