Portrait of Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) was the foremost German politician and diplomat of the second half of the 19th century, the first chancellor of the united German Empire. Lenbach, a celebrated portraitist in his day, painted several dozen pictures of Bismarck – quite simply because there was a demand for them. They first met in 1874 and the artist soon became a welcome guest in the Prince’s home. Bismarck did pose repeatedly for Lenbach, but sometimes the artist worked from a photograph of him, something that was already usual in the late 1800s. On seeing his portrait at an exhibition in 1892, Bismarck said: “I am delighted to see myself immortalized by Lenbach. That is just how I want to remain for posterity.” The portraits of the 1890s are indeed the most imposing – depicting their subject in plain clothing, without any attributes or symbols of his high social status, the artist was able to convey the scale of his personality.