The Mother of Captain von Stierle-Holzmeister

At the age of twenty-six, Waldmüller received his first important portrait commission from Captain Joseph von Stierle-Holzmeister who asked him to paint a true-to-life portrait of his mother, formerly an actress at the Hofburg, later to become privy councilor Mierck. In a domestic setting, in a red house dress, facing forwards and completely filling the picture frame, the old lady comes extremely close to the viewer. The colour, light, and shade of both her skin and her clothes are portrayed with a high degree of refinement. No detail has been ignored, nothing has been prettified. There is no sign of any neck, just her heavy head resting on her shoulders. To meet the terms of the commission, Waldmüller abandoned the traditions of actors’ portraits as he was later often to do. The intention was to convey the sitter’s individuality, not status. In his portraits, Waldmüller united natural, living reality with sensually pleasing painting.