Hermann Lüders Lot n° 289

Hermann Lüders Golden wedding anniversary of Emperor Wilhelm I and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Watercolor and gouache on paper. 35.5 x 51 cm. Framed under glass in wooden frame (82 x 82 cm). Signed and dated lower right: HLüders 96. Hermann Lüders, who worked primarily as an illustrator, frequently drew depictions of the lives of Prussian kings and German emperors. The present sheet shows the celebration of the golden wedding anniversary of Emperor Wilhelm I and Empress Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in the chapel of the Berlin Palace in 1879 and formed the model for the reproduction in the "Festschrift zum hundertjährigen Geburtsstage Kaiser Wilhelms des Großen" (Festschrift on the centenary of the birth of Emperor Wilhelm the Great) compiled by Wilhelm Oncken in 1897. In addition to the imperial couple in the center of the composition, Crown Prince Frederick, later Emperor Frederick III, with his wife Victoria of Great Britain, as well as Otto Prince von Bismarck and Helmuth Count von Moltke can be seen on the right-hand edge of the picture. The aforementioned commemorative publication by Wilhelm Oncken, in which the drawing was published, is enclosed with the lot.