Auguste by Friedrich Tieck
Auguste Böhmer, bust by Friedrich Tieck, 1804. Plaster. 50,8 cm.
One of possibly three casts of the bust (the original was likely not done in marble), and almost certainly the one Caroline had in her residences in Würzburg and Munich until her own death in 1809. Another has been preserved in Germaine de Staël’s residence in Coppet, Switzerland (in Wilhelm Schlegel’s estate there), and a third, from the estate of Luise Wiedemann, née Michaelis, seems to have been lost.
(Thorvaldsen Museum Copenhagen, inventory number: G245. All photos by Bent Nielsen, to whom particular thanks are due.)
Auguste by Friedrich Tieck
Schelling writes to Wilhelm Schlegel on 20 May 1803:
“We also spent several days in Weimar, Caroline primarily to direct the execution of the bust of Auguste, which through Tiek’s patience and considerable skill has succeeded to a degree one could hardly have hoped for. In this respect, too, you will find this work to be an infinitely worthy memorial.”
Auguste by Friedrich Tieck
Caroline writes to Luise Wiedemann on 16 September 1803:
“And for me there is moreover one sacred piece of ground, one I loathe to see in the possession of others: Auguste rests a half-day’s journey from Würzburg. – I know as little why you have not received the bust as why Tiek has not even sent it to me yet. Although I have not received a single line from him, things will doubtless turn out fine.”
Auguste by Friedrich Tieck
Caroline writes to Julie Gotter on 18 March 1804:
“Tiek has now sent me the completed bust of Auguste. Although the resemblance is such that anyone can recognize her, it does not really capture her splendor. If only he had seen her even once, or if only my own words could shape the clay. The most beautiful element is missing; he followed the drawings too slavishly and did not remove the features Tischbein incorrectly added, as it were the downcast element of the spirit. There is a touch of illness about it that rends my heart with memories, and yet I cannot be without it right at my side.”
Auguste by Friedrich Tieck
Auguste Böhmer, bust by Friedrich Tieck, 1804.
Wilhelm Schlegel writes to Sophie Bernhardi on 15 May 1804 after visiting Caroline in Würzburg: “She had set up the busts of Goethe and Auguste in a large salon, and had two large orange trees just inside the windows. In the living room I saw the beloved portrait of Auguste again.”
Auguste by Friedrich Tieck
Auguste by Friedrich Tieck
