Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 19

[cahn]

Yuletide nominations:

18th Century CE Federician RPF
Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria
Voltaire
Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Ernst Ahasverus von Lehndorff
Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Anna Amalie von Preußen | Anna Amalia of Prussia (1723-1787)
Catherine II of Russia
Hans Hermann von Katte
Peter Karl Christoph von Keith
Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf
August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758)

Circle of Voltaire RPF
Emilie du Chatelet
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (Madame de Pompadour)
John Hervey (1696-1743)
Marie Louise Mignot Denis
Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu
Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (1696-1788)
Francesco Algarotti

Comments

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[mildred_of_midgard]

Yay Heinrich! He's one of our faves in this fandom, we've read and written quite a bit about him (especially selenak).

if anyone has ideas for things that could be drawn I'd like to try...?

Lead me not into temptation... :D I.e., I have lots of ideas, and it's awesome having an artist in the fandom now, and the hard part is choosing!

Ooh, Fritz with his dogs! I vote Fritz with his emotional support animal(s). *claps hands*

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[prinzsorgenfrei]

I'm replying to this one because I made a sketch of Fritz with dogs at work today :D I have an idea that might look cute, I'll do my best!

Are there any descriptions of the dogs, apart from the breed? If there aren't, I'll just do whatever with their fur, but it might be fun to make them "recognizable" :D

Fritz and Heinrich are definitely on the list! And I bought a canvas today, despite swearing off acrylic paint forever last week. I might attempt an impressionist-ish Fredersdorf portrait...? Not sure about that yet though, I feel like acrylic paint might be too liquid-y for the effect that I want. Should have gotten oil paint. But I don't know anything about oil paint and mixing colours would be even harder... I'll see how it goes :D Might end up more abstract. The Lehndorff portrait is so funky looking, I really want to do something with that too... So many possibilities!

What I've done so far is... sketch what a Dungeons&Dragons Character inspired by Wilhelmine in this dress might look like. And Wilhelmine in a uniform, because Fiat Justitia was amazing :DD

Fanart

[mildred_of_midgard]

!!!!

An artist! In our fandom!

And Wilhelmine in a uniform, because Fiat Justitia was amazing :DD

OMG, selenak, fanart! This SO AWESOME.

Are there any descriptions of the dogs, apart from the breed? If there aren't, I'll just do whatever with their fur, but it might be fun to make them "recognizable" :D

30 minutes later...

Though I know of a number of artistic depictions of Old Fritz with his greyhounds, including the one in my icon, which is my absolute favorite depiction of Fritz, I can't find any that's contemporary. The famous group portrait by Pesne of bb!Fritz with a drum, Wilhelmine, and that poor black kid in the back with the silver collar, shows what looks like a greyhound to me, but obviously it's not going to be one of the ones he had an as adult.

Biche's Wikipedia article says she was described as white, but it's citing a 19th century source that I don't know if it's reliable, and the article also cites some sources that I know *aren't* reliable, so who knows.

selenak might know a contemporary one off the top of her head that I'm not thinking of.

Regardless, I look forward to whatever you come up with.

Re: Fanart

[prinzsorgenfrei]

Since Wikipedia says that Fritz had Biche painted in the concert room of Sanssouci, I attempted to find a good photo of the picture in question and I did! 1747 would fit, But Wiki quotes the Tagesspiegel and I don't know where they got it from, so I might never know whether this is actually Biche or just a random dog... Ah well, I'll see how it works out :D Digital art is forgiving, so I can just change the colours later if we unearth more information.

That statue is amazing! I've been staring at it for ten minutes, it's SO COOL :DD Gotta remember that one, maybe I can use it for a paper at some point. Do you know who the artist is? I tried googling it, but I couldn't find anything so far

Re: Fanart

[selenak]

First of all, I'm thrilled and awed at the same time that you drew Wilhelmine in a uniform inspired by Fiat Justitia, and would beg for a link, so I can link it with my story in turn!

Secondly: sorry, can't recall a Biche description that mentios fur collar. But chances are the Tagespiegel is right re: the painting showing Biche, because Wilhelmine did the same thing with Folichon at the Eremitage in Bayreuth (not just in the famous portrait with her which Fritz later used at the basic for the memorial statue; she also had Folichon included in a roof painting depicting the story of Chilonis in her audience room, see here.

Also, the sheer amount of female nudity in the concert room painting reminds me of my Dad during our recent Sanssouci visit eyeing all the female nudes and going "Are you sure he was gay?" Voltaire, who had no doubts in this regard, about Fritz' taste in interior decor as displayed at Sanssouci in the paintings: The subject was totally Priapian. Turtles billing, young men in the embraces of young women, nymphs beneath satyrs, cupids at lascivious sperts, people fainting with desire at beholding them, and rams and goats at similar pastimes. The supper was frequently seasononed with the same kind of philosophy; and any person who had heard the discourse, and looked at this picture, would have supposed they had caught the Seven Sages of Greece in a brothel.

Re: Fanart

[prinzsorgenfrei]

I really loved the fic, I'll probably draw a proper thing eventually, until then the sketch I made is here. It's nothing grand or anything, but I hope you like it :D

I really need to go to Bayreuth at some point (when Cologne's covid reproduction rate is somewhat lower than 84...), the pictures on the website look gorgeous! And I'll definitely caption every future picture of Sanssouci as "the prettiest greek brothel you'll find in Brandenburg", this quote is great :'D

My plans for today were cancelled and thus I didn't have my friend to force to help with pose references for the dog picture, but I sketched Fredersdorf onto the canvas I got! I am happy to announce that the sketch is actually looking pretty good, which is somewhat frustrating since I spent six episodes of the X-Files painstakingly drawing Katte with the grid method to get everything right and he still doesn't look as close to the original as my 20 minute Fredersdorf sketch. To be fair, the new canvas is about a fourth the size of the other one, that makes it a little easier :'D Though now I am afraid to start mixing paint because I really don't want to ruin this sketch ._.

Re: Fanart

[mildred_of_midgard]

Hee, I thought of your father when I saw that picture!

Re: Fanart

[mildred_of_midgard]

Since Wikipedia says that Fritz had Biche painted in the concert room of Sanssouci

Good catch! I was in a hurry (to get back to German studies ;)), so I didn't read the article, just skimmed looking for physical descriptions.

Digital art is forgiving, so I can just change the colours later if we unearth more information.

Hee, I see you are like us! AO3 is also forgiving, and cahn and I periodically fix small historical points. You can't wait until you know everything there is to know before you start your creative work--at some point you just have to take the leap!

That statue is amazing! I've been staring at it for ten minutes, it's SO COOL :DD Gotta remember that one, maybe I can use it for a paper at some point

I knoooow, I looooove it.

Do you know who the artist is? I tried googling it, but I couldn't find anything so far

I don't. I may have found it back when I first tracked down this statue for my icon, but I didn't find it during a quick google yesterday.

Re: Fanart

[felis]

Harro Magnussen: Der Philosoph von Sanssouci in seinen letzten Stunden (wiki, which says the marble version from 1898 is missing since WWII, but two plaster (?) ones from 1890 still exist) - the picture you linked to definitely has the wrong title.

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[prinzsorgenfrei]

Fritz with dogs has been drawn! I posted it to my tumblr here with the lineart attached.

I took some liberties, of course, and i might change the colours later, but I hope you like the result :D

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[mildred_of_midgard]

!!!!

OMG, I love it! How do you do it??? I'm dying of joy here. This is so much better than I was imagining. Expect lots of requests now!

Also, this totally goes with my "Temple of Friendship" fic--may I link to it?

ETA: We also need to start linking to your art in rheinsberg!

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[prinzsorgenfrei]

I'm so glad you like the way it turned out :DD I really suffered while posing the dogs, at some point the black and white one looked vaguely like a dick (to which one of my friends said "well, it is Friedrich's dog"). I would have drawn the full 11 dogs, but I ran out of pose ideas and space after dog #4 :'D
It's kiiiinda obvious which ones were drawn with a reference, but I think it turned out alright overall. I made some people cry, the highest goal of any fan artist and writer :'D

You may link it to whatever you like! :D

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[mildred_of_midgard]

I made some people cry, the highest goal of any fan artist and writer :'D

I had just settled down with Lehndorff to do some reading and add commentary for cahn's reference as I go, and now my concentration is *totally* shot, tyvm. :P

Linked! (I'll do a Rheinsberg fanart post at some point--I've put it on my to-do list.)

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[mildred_of_midgard]

Lol, I was focused on the dogs, and I just noticed the potatoes. And the rose and the note that apparently someone has left.

BEST. DRAWING. EVER.

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[prinzsorgenfrei]

Thank you so much! :DD

I just had to include a note in remembrance of my last visit. I would have included the heart shaped potato too, but it didn't work with the perspective

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[mildred_of_midgard]

So you and selenak were both there close enough in time to see the same heart-shaped potato? Or did you just see hers via her picture? Regardless, it's a pity you two didn't have the chance to coordinate!

When I was there, someone had left a framed picture. (Just barely visible behind the flowers.)

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[felis]

Oh, this is lovely! Love the nod in the title, too - reunited at last.

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[prinzsorgenfrei]

Thank you, thank you :DD I usually don't even title my stuff, but the opportunity was too good

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[cahn]

AHHHHHHH wowowowowow

Fritz's face, omg, this is possibly the... first picture I have EVER seen of him smiling and happy?! (I mean, maybe there are some that exist? somewhere? that mildred will now link me to? but I am a fandom newcomer, I've only seen ones of him very serious) Which makes me happy and sad at the same time <3333

The dogs are just awesome! Okay, fine, I'm not a dog person so I guess I wouldn't be the person to ask, but they do not look like giraffes at all :P they are adorable and not even being a dog person I'm all d'awwwwww I can see why Fritz loves them so much <3333

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[mildred_of_midgard]

that mildred will now link me to?

ROFL!

Aaaand, there goes another 30 minutes I could have spent generating Lehndorff commentary for you. :P

Fritz's face, omg, this is possibly the... first picture I have EVER seen of him smiling and happy?!

It definitely felt weird (in a good way) to me too! I keep staring at it in disbelief. Granted, portraiture conventions of the time had people looking serious, but...Fredersdorf and Lehndorff both look happier than Fritz in most of his pictures!

As for fanart, gosh. This is definitely the only one in color and the only one detailed enough to look anything like him, which is why it's so striking. It's certainly my favorite happy Fritz!

So there's this one, which is obviously continuing with the theme of the ONLY THING that makes Fritz happy, and is honestly what inspired my commission. (This one is my favorite, though; not only more detail, but pushes all my buttons, illustrates an episode that I wrote a fic about, and also, I'VE BEEN THERE! \o/)

Doesn't look like him.

Ditto.

Aand, going through my bookmarks led me to this, which I thought you might enjoy, cahn. :D He's about to be smiling at the end!

But yeah, not much. People tend to gravitate toward the tragedy.

(Gotta say I love the grumpy look in this one, though.)

Okay, fine, I'm not a dog person so I guess I wouldn't be the person to ask, but they do not look like giraffes at all :P

As the (only?) resident dog person here, I concur that they don't look like giraffes! I was actually looking at them with that in mind, lol, and thinking, "Nope, no giraffes in this picture."

The white one in front I was actually admiring for the distinctive body shape of the Italian Greyhound (at least the modern breed).

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[prinzsorgenfrei]

Ditto.

When I read the first comment I was actually thinking "wait, have I ever drawn Fritz smiling?" and WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, my drawing from four years ago :'DD
I just went through my 2016 art folder and apart from that one he always looks sad/pissed off.
Damn. I have to change that. More happy Fritz pictures!

The white one in front I was actually admiring for the distinctive body shape of the Italian Greyhound (at least the modern breed).

That one and the one in the back on the right were the ones where I was glued to a reference image, honestly. I could never do that when freehanding :'D Since the one in the front was going to be so very visible, really I wanted it to look right, so I found a photo that i liked and copied the shape. Overall it's pretty obvious which ones were drawn with a reference and which ones weren't... I need someone around me to get a greyhound so i can take proper photos, all angles on google are b o r i n g

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[cahn]

Aaaand, there goes another 30 minutes I could have spent generating Lehndorff commentary for you. :P

I didn't mean it as a request for you to find them for me! Just that whenever I'm like "I've never seen X," I know that it is just a matter of time before you find stuff for me :D

Awwww that other Fritz+dog one! And hee to the Katte and Fredersdorf :D (Ah, now, is it plausible Schwerin sent Fredersdorf? Should we have put that in?) :D

AHAHAHAH I love the grumpy one actually.

But also I sort of get the feeling he was probably more grumpy than smiley usually -- and the smile that's in prinzsorgenfrei's pic is just SO sweet <3

Oh, yes, I may not be exactly a dog person but I did recognize the greyhound and liked it quite a bit :)

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[selenak]

first picture I have EVER seen of him smiling and happy?!

In fairness, for most of art history all people of rank depicted in commissioned portraits were painted not smiling. (The Mona Lisa always excepted, if, that is, she was a commissioned portrait of a Florentine merchant's wife and not someone else or a made-up woman altogether - no idea that the latest theory is. The idea that you could depict an HRH looking other than serious is relatively recent, I believe - it was considered disrespectful and undignified.

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[selenak]

Awwww. That is absolutely adorable, and I love all the detail, including the dogs looking all different and the potatos on the gravestone. As for the smile, finally, at last, he is truly sans souci!

You’re incredibly talented, and I doff my hat in proper 18th century fashion.

Re: The Pop Art Thing I mentioned

[prinzsorgenfrei]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I'm going to draw for y'all more often, this is a real ego boost :'D