Portrait of Dr. Elisabeth Winterhalter, 1887 – 1888

Dimensions: 102.1 x 82 cm

Physical Description: Oil on canvas

Inventory Number: 2033

Acquisition: Acquired in 1952 as a bequest from Elisabeth H. Winterhalter

Status: Not on display

Texts

About the Work

Here, Ottilie W. Roederstein shows her friend and later life partner Elisabeth H. Winterhalter sitting at her desk. The quill in hand, the open book, a skull and a glass vial as well as other books on the shelf identify Winterhalter as a natural scientist and physician. She had studied medicine in liberal Switzerland, resp. Zurich, since 1885. Roederstein deliberately chose to depict her in striking similarity of the composition to Renaissance scholar portraits, for example to Hans Holbein the Younger’s portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam. Thus, differing largely from the type of elegant and pompously decorated lady portraits customary in the 19th century. It confidently expresses the claim to education and equality in a male-dominated society, as women were still denied access to universities until the turn of the century in large parts of Europe.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Portrait of Dr. Elisabeth Winterhalter

Painter

Ottilie W. Roederstein

Production Place

Zurich?

Period Produced

19th century

School

realism

Object Type

painting (artwork)

Physical Description: Oil on canvas

Material

canvas

Technique

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Signed and dated bottom left: O. W. Roederstein

Work Catalogues

Rök 1999, WVZ Nr. 105
Jughenn, WVZ Nr. 1888-12

Property and Acquisition

Institution

Städel Museum

Administration

Modern Art 1800–1945

Collection

Städelsches Kunstinstitut

Creditline: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Picture Copyright: Public Domain

Acquisition: Acquired in 1952 as a bequest from Elisabeth H. Winterhalter

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

portrait

Main Motif

Persons Shown

Elisabeth Winterhalter

Iconclass

Primary

61BB2(WINTERHALTER, Elisabeth H.)11(+53) historical person (WINTERHALTER, Elisabeth H.) - BB - woman - historical person (WINTERHALTER, Elisabeth H.) portrayed alone (+ half-length portrait)
31D15 adult woman
31AA235 sitting figure - AA - female human figure
41AA1 civic architecture; edifices; dwellings - AA - civic architecture: inside

Secondary

49MM32 book - MM - book open
41A711 table
41A7122 bookshelves
31A211 (human) skull

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: Nachlass Ottilie W. Roederstein (1859-1937), Hofheim, 1937

Elisabeth H. Winterhalter (1856-1952), Hofheim

Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 1952.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known: