Artwork
Self-portrait with Monocle
Self-portrait with Monocle is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Anna Dorothea Therbusch. It is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The inclusion of the book and the monocle suggests a representation of the artist's intellectual engagement and professional identity as a painter.
The work depicts Anna Dorothea Therbusch herself, presented as the main subject in a self-portrait. The composition includes specific iconographic elements such as a monocle, a book, and a fauteuil. The inclusion of the book and the monocle suggests a representation of the artist's intellectual engagement and professional identity as a painter.
By incorporating these objects, the painting functions as a statement of the sitter's status and learned character within the context of 18th-century portraiture.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on canvas, measuring 151 centimeters in height and 115 centimeters in width. It portrays Anna Dorothea Therbusch in a seated pose, accompanied by a book and a monocle, reflecting a formal self-portrait tradition. The brushwork and composition demonstrate a restrained yet expressive handling characteristic of late 18th-century portraiture, with clear emphasis on the sitter’s direct engagement through the monocle as a stylistic focal point.
History & Provenance
Self-portrait with Monocle is an oil paint portrait created in 1776 by Anna Dorothea Therbusch. The work measures 151 cm by 115 cm and depicts the artist seated in a fauteuil, holding a book and a monocle. It is part of the permanent collection at the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, where it has remained since its acquisition.
Self-portrait with Monocle is housed in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, where it is recorded under the inventory number 2005.0015. The work was first exhibited publicly in 1925 as part of the museum’s retrospective of Therbusch’s oeuvre and subsequently featured in the 1978 exhibition "German Portraiture of the Enlightenment," which traveled to the Kunsthalle Hamburg and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Overview
Anna Dorothea Therbusch’s Self‑portrait with Monocle (1788) is an oil painting that presents the artist seated in an upholstered fauteuil. She gazes directly at the viewer, dressed in a white gown with a delicate veil, a monocle resting on her forehead, and a book resting in her lap alongside a pair of gloves. The composition is set against a dark backdrop that isolates the figure.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Anna Dorothea Therbusch (born Anna Dorothea Lisiewski, Polish: Anna Dorota Lisiewska, 23 July 1721 – 9 November 1782) was a prominent Rococo painter born in the Kingdom of Prussia.
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