Apartments of Queen Elizabeth of Prussia, Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin
Classification
interiors
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Museum purchase through gift of the estate of David Wolfe Bishop
Accession Number
1957-98-2
About this artwork
This view documents a portion of Queen Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria's (1801-1873) apartments: the library in the foreground, an adjacent study (left) and breakfast room (right), visible through two arched openings. The painted blue walls, decorated in gilded boiserie in the Rococo revival style, terminate in an upper frieze band in palmette design. Above, the ceiling's gilded stucco decoration is based on a swirling acanthus leaf motif.
Art Historical Context
Step into the lavish Apartments of Queen Elizabeth of Prussia at Charlottenburg Palace in, as captured in this 1864 interior view by German artist Elizabeth Pochhammer Active in Berlin from 1864 to 1880, Pochhammer offers a rare glimpse into the private world of Queen Elisabeth Ludovika of (1801–1873), consort of King Frederick William IV. The painting foregrounds her elegant library, with an adjacent study to the left and breakfast room the right, framed by arched openings that invite the viewer deeper into royal domesticity. Adorned in painted blue walls accented by gilded Rococo revival bo...