Figure PRINZESSINNENGRUPPE

On December 24, 1793, the future King Friedrich , Wilhelm III, married Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; his brother Ludwig married Friederike, Luise’s younger sister, two days later. In 1795, the court sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow created a life-size clay model of the princesses. At the same time, a smaller version of the “ PRINZESSINNENGRUPPE ” was produced in bisque porcelain for the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Berlin; it is listed in the model book under model number 1246 in August 1796. This masterpiece of porcelain art is composed of 88 individual pieces. Commissioned by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II, the double statue of the two princesses was also executed in marble and completed in 1797. The double statue of Crown Princess Luise of Prussia (1776–1810) and her sister Princess Friederike (1778–1841), PRINZESSINNENGRUPPE, was commissioned by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II shortly after the December 1793 marriage of the two sisters—who were from the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz—to his sons, the Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm III (1770–1840) and Prince Ludwig (1773–1796). Not only the king, who chose the sisters as wives for his sons, but also other contemporaries were captivated by the youthful beauty of the two. Goethe wrote in 1793 that one could “consider the two young ladies to be heavenly apparitions, the impression of whom will never fade for me either.” This fascination extended not only to the subjects themselves; Schadow’s work also caused a great sensation during its presentation at the Berlin Academy exhibition in September 1797. There, the sculptor exhibited a life-size marble version of * PRINZESSINNENGRUPPE * (at times displayed in the vestibule of the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin), while smaller versions were produced in bisque porcelain by the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Berlin for sale. An elegant austerity—entirely in the spirit of Classicism—combined with the grace of the subject never ceases to enchant the viewer. To this day, the Berlin Porcelain Manufactory continues to produce this exquisite figurine set entirely by hand. To do so, 88 individually cast porcelain parts are assembled into a new work of art through meticulous artistic modeling and then fired.