This expressive portrait study of his artist friend Franz von Stuck (1863-1928) goes back to an especially glamorous artists’ festival in Munich, which was celebrated in 1898 at the royal court theatre under the motto In Arcadia. Franz von Stuck and his wife Mary made an appearance as Zeus, father of the gods, and Hera, his consort – each in a Roman toga with a cape and garlands in their hair, as Stuck himself portrayed it in a small painting (Fig. 1). We see him in the same toga and likewise in right profile in this study by Lenbach, for which Stuck evidently posed as model. Franz von Lenbach has used the situation for yet another portrait study of his friend, and even titled it In Arcadia1.
- Franz von Lenbach: In Arkadien, pen and ink on paper, Stadtmuseum Munich, inv. no. 36/1292