(Haina 1722–1789 Kassel)?
Portrait of a young girl with a rose,
oil on canvas, 51.5 x 41.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Dr. Anna Charlotte Flohr, editor of the catalogue raisonné of Tischbein’s portraits, for examining the present painting in the original and confirming its authenticity. A certificate accompanies the painting.

Flohr writes: ‘The portrait of a young girl with a rose is a work of high quality and is well preserved; it convinces through a fluent technique, skillful composition and perspective, attention to detail, and masterly presentation of the subject. It can be dated to the 1760s and illustrates Tischbein’s mature style following his appointment as court painter to the Landgrafen von Hessen-Kassel in 1753 […]’

‘Tischbein of Kassel’ was one of the most talented and influential members of a family of artists. His patron, Count Stadion, funded the artist’s five-year stay in Paris, where, from 1743 on, he worked in the studio of Charles van Loo. Together with Johann Christian Fiedler, Christian Bernhard Rode, and Januarius Zick, he was among the first German artists to have been trained in Paris. Between 1748 and 1751, Tischbein travelled across Italy. Having sojourned in Venice for several months, he briefly visited Bologna and Florence and then stayed in Rome for two years. In Venice he became a friend of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. After his return from Italy, Count Stadion recommended the painter to Landgrave William VIII of Hessen-Kassel, who appointed him court painter in April 1753. After the landgrave’s death, Tischbein continued serving as first court painter under his successor, Frederick II. Starting in 1762, he taught drawing and painting at the Collegium Carolinum. In 1776 he was appointed both professor for painting and director at the Kassel Academy of Fine Arts. In 1779 he was made an honorary member of the Academia Clementina in Bologna. Tischbein painted important history paintings, but is known today primarily for his courtly and highly elegant portraits. It has not been possible to clarify whether the sitter in the present painting is one of the landgrave’s or one of the artist’s daughters.