Franz Xaver Winterhalter, one of the most sought-after and productive artists of the 19th century, developed various types of portraits in strategically composed portraiture programmes, which shaped the image of rulers and rulers' wives across different political systems. This example is taken in order to discuss how recognition of rulership is conferred in concrete terms, and to what extent the visualisation of claims to power is dependent on office and gender. The author identifies three reproducible patterns of legitimation, defining new terms of investigation - fashion, regalia and virtue portraits - that will assist future research across epochs.

• Fundamental study on portraiture of female rulers
• New perspectives on one of the most successful and productive 19th century court artists
• Women in positions of political leadership
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Recipient of the Boehringer Ingelheim Preis für Geisteswissenschaften 2024 (2nd prize)

Autorentext

Tita Hensel, art historian, PhD University of Hamburg; research assistant Warburg Haus, University of Hamburg; research stays in London and Paris; since 2018, advisor for young academics at the University of Siegen. Research interests: political iconography, visualisation of female power, cultural-historical media and communication research, fashion studies.