Frederick the
Great plays flute in his summer palace Sanssouci, with Franz Benda playing
violin, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach accompanying on keyboard, and unidentified
string players; painting by Adolph Menzel (1850–52).
Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (December 8, 1815 – February
9, 1905) was a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings, and
paintings. Along with Caspar David Friedrich, he is considered one of the two
most prominent German painters of the 19th century and was the most successful
artist of his era in Germany. First known as Adolph Menzel, he was knighted in
1898 and changed his name to Adolph von Menzel.
His popularity in his native country, owing especially to his
history paintings, was such that few of his major paintings left Germany, as
many were quickly acquired by museums in Berlin.
Menzel's graphic work (and especially his drawings) were more
widely disseminated; these, along with informal paintings not initially
intended for display, have largely accounted for his posthumous reputation.
Although he traveled in order
to find subjects for his art, to visit exhibitions, and to meet with other
artists, Menzel spent most of his life in Berlin, and was, despite numerous
friendships, by his own admission detached from others. It is likely that he
felt socially estranged for physical reasons alone—Menzel had a large head, and
stood about four foot six inches.