Speaking of Heinrich and wills - something I found interesting during my reading of Fritz' wills were the individual legacies, particularly the ones for Heinrich, because they reflect Fritz' attitude towards him. It's very obvious that he was on Fritz' shit list in 1752 (because they were arguing about Heinrich's planned marriage I guess, also possibly money?), and while everybody who was still alive got an upgrade in the second will, Heinrich once again stands out, but in the other direction this time:
1752:
13. I will bequeath four hand horses from my stable and accessories to my brother Heinrich.
for comparison, Ferdinand:
16. To my brother Ferdinand, who has always shown me friendship, 20,000 thalers, 100 buckets of Hungarian wine, six hand horses with their saddlecloths, a team of Prussian horses and the second set of my silver service in Potsdam.
Whereas in 1769, it's this:
9. To my brother Heinrich 200,000 thalers, 50 buckets of Hungarian wine, a beautiful rock crystal chandelier from Potsdam, the green diamond that I wear on my finger, two hand horses with accessories and a team of six Prussian horses.
13. To my dear brother Ferdinand, 50,000 thalers, 50 buckets of Hungarian wine, a gala carriage with a team of horses and all accessories.
Right? OMG, Fritz! was certainly my reaction when I read the 1752 one. Not least because of the "who has always shown me friendship" note added to Ferdinand's part. He formally deposited it in the archives and asked for it back to use as a template when he set out to write the updated one in 1769, so I'm kind of wondering if the 200,000 thaler were a result of him rereading what he did in 1752...
The "Ferdinand, who has always shown me friendship" remark from 1752 is soooo aimed at Heinrich. Especially since Ferdinand's main interaction with Fritz was not talking back on the occasions when he had to meet him and otherwise taking care to stay as far away from him as he could.
Mind you, I can also see 1752!Fritz thinking "I just financed his wedding for him and allowed him to live in Rheinsberg, for which the brat has yet to thank me. What more does he want?" Considering that this is the year when he writes to Wilhelmine that while he's not in "Monseigneur Henri"'s confidence re: how much or little he's in love with his bride, he's sure la femme will do Heinrich good, and also Mina is such an ornament that the family "we can contratulate ourselves to this acquisition".
Meanwhile, 1769: things are looking stormy in Sweden and Russia and Austria. Fritz is about to let Heinrich travel to sister Ulrike and get an unexpected present in the form of a sizable part of Poland in return...
Meanwhile, 1769: things are looking stormy in Sweden and Russia and Austria. Fritz is about to let Heinrich travel to sister Ulrike and get an unexpected present in the form of a sizable part of Poland in return...
The 1752 will is from January, though, so months before the wedding. Of course, he could have had the planned costs in mind (and the fact that Heinrich already got Rheinsberg), but I have no idea how set all of it was at that point.
Also, I don't know about the 1769 will, but the first one was strictly confidential - at least that's what Fritz wrote to EC's brother Karl, whom he made executor of the will: „[...] I am at the same time placing in your hands a copy of the will, as I have had it deposited in the archives with the usual formalities, begging you not to communicate it to anyone, to avoid all jealousy and family quarrels, to which it could give rise, all the more so since I have not shown it to a living soul."
One more detail from the 1769 version of the will:
11. I am bequeathing to my sister, the Queen of Sweden, one of my golden boxes valued at 10,000 thalers, 20 buckets of Hungarian wine and a painting of Pesne in the Sanssouci Palace, which I received from Algarotti.
Of course I got curious, so I looked it up and it's apparently this one (in colour), with the inscription Unter dem Kissen [Under the Pillow]— Ant. Pesne fecit 1706.
Oesterreicher says "A charming peasant girl in the window with her head resting on her right arm. Light and shadow have a splendid effect in this painting, the painter represented bare [bloße] nature. [He sure did.] * * The Count Algarotti bequeathed this painting to His Majesty the King.
Fritz also mentions that Algarotti offered him a Pesne painting in his last letter to Algarotti, which I assume was this one, so they had talked about it before and I'm not entirely sure if it was a formal last will thing from Algarotti or just coincided with his death.
Nevertheless, I have questions! Did Algarotti think that Fritz would simply like to have a Pesne painting or was the motif relevant innuendo? The inscription? And why on earth did Fritz bequeath it to Ulrike - did she come across it during a visit and she and Fritz talked about it? Inside joke? Does she have a connection to Algarotti at all or is it just the fact that Pesne painted it? It's not like Fritz didn't have hundreds of other paintings to give, so why this one?
Fascinating detail! Also, that's actually a beautiful painting, and strikingly different from official portraits Pesne did of the royal family. This is a painting I really like.
did she come across it during a visit?
Not unless Algarotti gave it to Fritz before 1744, when Ulrike got married and moved to Sweden. At this point, Sanssouci didn't exist yet, but Fritz could of course have hung the picture elsewhere. The 1771 visit to Brandenburg was Ulrike's first after her marriage, so she can't have seen the painting in Sanssouci at the point when Fritz is making this will. If she knows it, she must have seen it before 1744 in Potsdam and Berlin. Now, since Pesne lived in Brandenburg since F1 hired him as court painter - and was among the people FW didn't fire (he just cut the salary Pesne was receiving by half) -, this wouldn't be that difficult. Ulrike was portrayed by Pesne as were her siblings, after all. (There is a portrait of her hanging in Rheinsberg today.) Maybe, just maybe, instead of Pesne coming to her rooms, she was allowed to visit his studio and pose there, which means she could have seen the painting there?
Alas, though, dates argue against it. Pesne was appointed court painter by F1 in 1711; this painting hails from 1706. At which point young Pesne was living in....Venice. Where Algarotti is from. Which would explain why Algarotti owns a painting of the Prussian court painter to give to Fritz that the royal family doesn't own already. (Meaning young Pesne probably sold the painting back then to some Venetian noble and Algarotti, who could have seen it in Palazzo X, aquired it there.
As to why this painting of a peasant girl with cleavage, well, as my Aged Parent noted, there is no lack of female half nudes or nudes at Sanssouci anyway, enough to make him question Fritz' sexuality again. And it is a beautiful painting. I think it's probably no more complicated than Algarotti knowing Fritz would like such a good Pesne.
As to why Fritz should think Ulrike would like it, well, see above. The only way she could have known it was if she'd seen it before 1744, which could be the case if Pesne didn't sell it while in Venice but kept it and brought it with him to Berlin. Which is also possible, though in that case I question why Algarotti owned it before Fritz did.
Ohh, nice, thank you for the chronology! I assume that Fritz got the painting in 1764, when he mentions it in his letter / Algarotti died, but I didn't make the connection that Ulrike couldn't have seen in between then and 1769! Huh.
So
a) she didn't know it at all - which still begs the question why that one, because Fritz must have owned lots of other Pesne paintings if he wanted to give her one for what I'd assume is nostalgia's sake, and also, nobody else got a painting in the second will (Wilhelmine got two in the first one, a Rubens and a Van Dyck). I might have said that he was simply looking at it while writing the will, but he wrote in January again, so definitely not.
or
b) Pesne did have it with him in Berlin and she (they) knew it from back then. By the way, thanks for pointing out the Venice connection, I'd have missed that. Like you, I'm leaning towards Pesne not having it with him in Berlin, because of the date of the painting and the Algarotti connection.
Speaking of, this is what Fritz writes in June 1764: I am very much obliged to you for the part which you take in what concerns me, and for the painting by Pesne which you offer me. I am waiting to know the price to tell you where you can have it delivered. Not sure if he did pay money or got it as a gift in the end (Oesterreicher and Volz both say it was bequeathed to him), and what Algarotti said in his offer (his own letter isn't at Trier).
ETA: By the way, Oesterreicher totally agrees with you: ohnstreitig eines der schönsten Gemälde von Pesne. :) (And he speculates that it almost looks like Pesne might have been in love with the girl.)
No one else in 1769 is the Queen of Sweden who is thinking loudly about a coup again and has to be talked out of it so Russia doesn't invade and Prussia by virtue of its alliance with Russia also has to invade. I can't prove it, but Fritz does have motive to sweettalk Ulrike that year. If it were two years later, when her son is King and Ulrike has lost all her political influence, then I would qualify it as an entirely private gesture. But not in 1769.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Various questions from Mildred
Date: 2021-02-28 01:06 pm (UTC)1752:
13. I will bequeath four hand horses from my stable and accessories to my brother Heinrich.
for comparison, Ferdinand:
16. To my brother Ferdinand, who has always shown me friendship, 20,000 thalers, 100 buckets of Hungarian wine, six hand horses with their saddlecloths, a team of Prussian horses and the second set of my silver service in Potsdam.
Whereas in 1769, it's this:
9. To my brother Heinrich 200,000 thalers, 50 buckets of Hungarian wine, a beautiful rock crystal chandelier from Potsdam, the green diamond that I wear on my finger, two hand horses with accessories and a team of six Prussian horses.
13. To my dear brother Ferdinand, 50,000 thalers, 50 buckets of Hungarian wine, a gala carriage with a team of horses and all accessories.
Re: Various questions from Mildred
Date: 2021-02-28 01:18 pm (UTC)Re: Various questions from Mildred
Date: 2021-02-28 03:12 pm (UTC)Re: Various questions from Mildred
Date: 2021-02-28 03:19 pm (UTC)"For Heinrich, who saved my ass in the Seven Years' War..."
Re: Various questions from Mildred
Date: 2021-02-28 03:58 pm (UTC)Mind you, I can also see 1752!Fritz thinking "I just financed his wedding for him and allowed him to live in Rheinsberg, for which the brat has yet to thank me. What more does he want?" Considering that this is the year when he writes to Wilhelmine that while he's not in "Monseigneur Henri"'s confidence re: how much or little he's in love with his bride, he's sure la femme will do Heinrich good, and also Mina is such an ornament that the family "we can contratulate ourselves to this acquisition".
Meanwhile, 1769: things are looking stormy in Sweden and Russia and Austria. Fritz is about to let Heinrich travel to sister Ulrike and get an unexpected present in the form of a sizable part of Poland in return...
Re: Various questions from Mildred
Date: 2021-02-28 04:04 pm (UTC)Yep, was thinking exactly this.
Re: Various questions from Mildred
Date: 2021-02-28 04:44 pm (UTC)Also, I don't know about the 1769 will, but the first one was strictly confidential - at least that's what Fritz wrote to EC's brother Karl, whom he made executor of the will: „[...] I am at the same time placing in your hands a copy of the will, as I have had it deposited in the archives with the usual formalities, begging you not to communicate it to anyone, to avoid all jealousy and family quarrels, to which it could give rise, all the more so since I have not shown it to a living soul."
Re: Various questions from Mildred
Date: 2021-02-28 10:35 pm (UTC)11. I am bequeathing to my sister, the Queen of Sweden, one of my golden boxes valued at 10,000 thalers, 20 buckets of Hungarian wine and a painting of Pesne in the Sanssouci Palace, which I received from Algarotti.
Of course I got curious, so I looked it up and it's apparently this one (in colour), with the inscription Unter dem Kissen [Under the Pillow]— Ant. Pesne fecit 1706.
Oesterreicher says "A charming peasant girl in the window with her head resting on her right arm. Light and shadow have a splendid effect in this painting, the painter represented bare [bloße] nature. [He sure did.] *
* The Count Algarotti bequeathed this painting to His Majesty the King.
Fritz also mentions that Algarotti offered him a Pesne painting in his last letter to Algarotti, which I assume was this one, so they had talked about it before and I'm not entirely sure if it was a formal last will thing from Algarotti or just coincided with his death.
Nevertheless, I have questions! Did Algarotti think that Fritz would simply like to have a Pesne painting or was the motif relevant innuendo? The inscription? And why on earth did Fritz bequeath it to Ulrike - did she come across it during a visit and she and Fritz talked about it? Inside joke? Does she have a connection to Algarotti at all or is it just the fact that Pesne painted it? It's not like Fritz didn't have hundreds of other paintings to give, so why this one?
Pesne painting
Date: 2021-03-01 07:33 am (UTC)did she come across it during a visit?
Not unless Algarotti gave it to Fritz before 1744, when Ulrike got married and moved to Sweden. At this point, Sanssouci didn't exist yet, but Fritz could of course have hung the picture elsewhere. The 1771 visit to Brandenburg was Ulrike's first after her marriage, so she can't have seen the painting in Sanssouci at the point when Fritz is making this will. If she knows it, she must have seen it before 1744 in Potsdam and Berlin. Now, since Pesne lived in Brandenburg since F1 hired him as court painter - and was among the people FW didn't fire (he just cut the salary Pesne was receiving by half) -, this wouldn't be that difficult. Ulrike was portrayed by Pesne as were her siblings, after all. (There is a portrait of her hanging in Rheinsberg today.) Maybe, just maybe, instead of Pesne coming to her rooms, she was allowed to visit his studio and pose there, which means she could have seen the painting there?
Alas, though, dates argue against it. Pesne was appointed court painter by F1 in 1711; this painting hails from 1706. At which point young Pesne was living in....Venice. Where Algarotti is from. Which would explain why Algarotti owns a painting of the Prussian court painter to give to Fritz that the royal family doesn't own already. (Meaning young Pesne probably sold the painting back then to some Venetian noble and Algarotti, who could have seen it in Palazzo X, aquired it there.
As to why this painting of a peasant girl with cleavage, well, as my Aged Parent noted, there is no lack of female half nudes or nudes at Sanssouci anyway, enough to make him question Fritz' sexuality again. And it is a beautiful painting. I think it's probably no more complicated than Algarotti knowing Fritz would like such a good Pesne.
As to why Fritz should think Ulrike would like it, well, see above. The only way she could have known it was if she'd seen it before 1744, which could be the case if Pesne didn't sell it while in Venice but kept it and brought it with him to Berlin. Which is also possible, though in that case I question why Algarotti owned it before Fritz did.
Re: Pesne painting
Date: 2021-03-01 11:22 am (UTC)So
a) she didn't know it at all - which still begs the question why that one, because Fritz must have owned lots of other Pesne paintings if he wanted to give her one for what I'd assume is nostalgia's sake, and also, nobody else got a painting in the second will (Wilhelmine got two in the first one, a Rubens and a Van Dyck). I might have said that he was simply looking at it while writing the will, but he wrote in January again, so definitely not.
or
b) Pesne did have it with him in Berlin and she (they) knew it from back then. By the way, thanks for pointing out the Venice connection, I'd have missed that. Like you, I'm leaning towards Pesne not having it with him in Berlin, because of the date of the painting and the Algarotti connection.
Speaking of, this is what Fritz writes in June 1764: I am very much obliged to you for the part which you take in what concerns me, and for the painting by Pesne which you offer me. I am waiting to know the price to tell you where you can have it delivered. Not sure if he did pay money or got it as a gift in the end (Oesterreicher and Volz both say it was bequeathed to him), and what Algarotti said in his offer (his own letter isn't at Trier).
ETA: By the way, Oesterreicher totally agrees with you: ohnstreitig eines der schönsten Gemälde von Pesne. :) (And he speculates that it almost looks like Pesne might have been in love with the girl.)
Re: Pesne painting
Date: 2021-03-01 04:06 pm (UTC)No one else in 1769 is the Queen of Sweden who is thinking loudly about a coup again and has to be talked out of it so Russia doesn't invade and Prussia by virtue of its alliance with Russia also has to invade. I can't prove it, but Fritz does have motive to sweettalk Ulrike that year. If it were two years later, when her son is King and Ulrike has lost all her political influence, then I would qualify it as an entirely private gesture. But not in 1769.