Attributed to Johann Heinrich Tischbein

Attributed to JOHANN HEINRICH TISCHBEIN (Haina, 1722 - Kassel, 1789).
"Portrait of Christiane Henriette von Pfalz-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and her son Prince Karl Ludwig Christian von Waldeck".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It presents faults and perforations on the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 114 x 91 cm.
This painting follows the models of the painting that is in the Schlossmuseum of Darmstadt attributed to Johann Heinrich Tischbein. Christiane Henriette was the daughter of Count Palatine and Duke Christian III of Zweibrücken (1674-1735) from his marriage to Karoline (1704-1774), daughter of Count Ludwig Kraft of Nassau-Saarbrücken. Christiane Henriette was the sister of Duke Christian IV of Zweibrücken, the Grand Landgrave and Field Marshal Friedrich Michael. She was also the aunt of the first Bavarian king Maximilian I. After the death of her husband, she exercised the guardianship of her son Friedrich in the principality from 1764 to 1766. Christiane Henriette was considered an artistically minded woman and highly educated in science. She was a close friend of the anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. Christiane created an extensive library, and maintained an art and natural history cabinet at her residence in Arolsen. At her death at the advanced age of 90, Christiane Henriette left behind considerable debts, so that part of her library and her painting collection had to be auctioned off in 1820.
Kasseler Tischbein was one of the most respected European painters of the 18th century and an important member of the German Tischbein family of painters, which spanned three generations. His work consisted mainly of portraits of the nobility, mythological scenes and historical paintings. For his mythological paintings, his models were mostly members of the high nobility. He studied painting with Johann Georg von Freese (1701-1775), after which he worked in the service of small princely courts. In 1743, thanks to the patronage of Count Johann Philipp von Stadion, he was able to go to Paris and study with Carle van Loo. In 1749, he traveled to Venice to study with Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, and then spent a year in Rome. In 1753, he was appointed court painter to William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. During the Seven Years' War, he fled the advancing French army and lived in various places until the occupation ended in 1762. Upon his return, he was appointed professor at the new Collegium Carolinum in Kassel.