F. Witzleben, King Frederick William III of Prussia in the Theatre Box, 19th-century, Lithograph

Friedrich Hartmann von Witzleben (1802 Johannisburg - 1873 Niesky): King Frederick William III of Prussia in the theatre box, 19th century, LithographyTechnique: Lithography on PaperInscription: Inscribed below the image: "Kn. lith. Inst. Berlin. For the benefit of the Ueberschwemmten in Commission at the C. G. Lderitz'sche Kunst-Verlagshandlung Berlin".Date: 19th centuryDescription: This is a very unusual portrait in which von Witzleben depicts Frederick William III, King of Prussia. Seen from behind in lost profile, he is sitting in a theatre box and gazing into space. The curtains and the balustrade are only hinted at and are lost in the thin line. As a portrait of a ruler without a ruler, it is very interesting and also reveals much of the king's own view of his body. In this sheet, printed after all by the Royal Lithographic Institute in Berlin, we see a humble monarch who advances neither a representative pose nor medals or pomp as a shield. Only the prominent chin allows identification. Otherwise, it could be any citizen drawn by an artist in secret. When a monarch is presented to his people in this way, featureless and downright elusive, it is hard to resist a psychologising interpretation. Even to his contemporaries, he did not present himself as a dazzling personality. He was usually more of a representative than a regent, and so even today his name is primarily associated not with his person or his deeds, but with the cult of his wife Luise, who died at an early age. In this print, the king already shows himself as a forgotten man. Person: King Friedrich Wilhelm III., Prussia Hohenzollern (1770 Potsdam - 1840 Berlin). Slightly stained in margin, at lower margin with two smaller tears in white margin.