Step Into the World of "Princess With the Monkey"

Around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Janis Rozentāls became the most versatile Latvian artist, a popular and masterful portrait painter, modern and passionate defender of new aesthetic principles.

The painting was made towards the end of the artist's life in 1913 and was successfully presented in both local and international exhibitions.

The artwork became Rozentāls' box office hit, reaching the highest price level in the artist's career – 1000 roubles.

By joining together academic form with decorativeness, Rozentāls succeeded in bringing out the quintessence of the aesthetic programme of art nouveau in a single work.

He confronted viewers with an intriguing riddle – who is this charming princess and and what is the meaning of the monkey that accompanies her.

Rozentāls' son Miķelis recalled: “Every morning a Roma man with a monkey arrived in Alberta iela 12. My father used the monkey as his model, and the Roma man received 1 rouble for every day."

For a long time, the name of the model who posed for the character of the Princess remained unknown. It turned out that the name of the mysterious beauty is Gotho Bätge, née von Seck (1891–1977).

She was a woman from Kurzeme who had learned the basics of callisthenic gymnastics in Berlin in her youth and later established a studio in Riga. 

Those were free exercises accompanied by music, also in connection with dance, including activities with clubs, balls and skipping rope and stressing the significance of rhythm.

At a carnival where she was demonstrating her dancing Gotho caught the attention of artist Janis Rozentāls. As Gotho recalled: “All evening he would not let me go and asked if he could paint me. I agreed.“