Porträt Bismarcks mit Mütze und Brille

Franz von Lenbach's 'Porträt Bismarcks mit Mütze und Brille' (Portrait of Bismarck with Cap and Glasses, 1888) presents the Chancellor in a less formal mode — the cap and spectacles suggesting a more intimate, domestic image than his state portraits. Lenbach's access to Bismarck allowed him to depict the man in varied states of presentation, from his full cuirassier uniform to this more casual appearance with cap and reading glasses. The less formal portrait mode revealed a different aspect of the Chancellor's character — the private man behind the public figure.

Lenbach renders Bismarck in this less formal mode with the same psychological penetration he brought to his state portraits — the cap and glasses introducing new formal elements that alter the portrait's visual character without diminishing its authority. The glasses create a reflective element within the composition; the cap shifts the portrait's register toward intimacy. His tonal modeling of the face maintains its characteristic depth regardless of the surrounding formal elements.