Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 20

[cahn]

Yuletide signups so far:
3 requests for Frederician RPF, 2 offers
2 requests for Circle of Voltaire RPF, 3 offers !! :D :D

(I am so curious as to who the third person is!)

Comments

Tobacco Parliament

[mildred_of_midgard]

I'm not doing Krockow commentary (no time!), just reading for German practice, but I had to raise my hand and call on the teacher, as it were, for this one:

In Preußen, im Tabakskollegium Friedrich Wilhelms I. erkennt man rechts vom König den Kronprinzen Friedrich. Zwischen all den schwergewichtigen Männern wirkt er wie eine blasse Zierpuppe, und ängstlich klammert der kleine Zappelphilipp sich am Tisch fest. Seine jüngeren Brüder August Wilhelm und Heinrich aber, die dem gestrengen Herrn Vater vor dem Zubettgehen ihre Aufwartung machen, geben sich wirklich nicht als Kinder, sondern als winzige Erwachsene zu erkennen.

In short, in this picture, he claims it's Fritz sitting at the table, dressed in white, and clings to the table, and AW and Heinrich walking in to pay their respects.

Not that I trust Wikipedia, but if this is circa 1737, as we've discussed, 25-yo Fritz was happy to be far away in Rheinsberg! That should be AW at the table, and Heinrich and Ferdinand walking in.

So who's wrong: Krockow or Wikipedia?

In Wikipedia's favor: pace artistic conventions, by the time Heinrich was old enough to walk, Fritz had surely reached adult height, or close enough.

The rheinsberg image that selenak shared with us doesn't tell me whether her That's tiny AW sitting on the table, and Ferdinand and Heinrich coming to wish their father good night. Since it's painted in 1737, Fritz thanks his lucky stars he's not there but in Rheinsberg. description is based on memory or on the claims of the Wusterhausen curators.

Re: Tobacco Parliament

[selenak]

Krockow is wrong, though just doing what a lot of other people did and do - project the famous person they want/expect to see (Fritz) without checking the date of the painting.