A portrait of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is unveiled at the Bode Museum in Berlin
The portrait by Jeremie Queyras is the gallery’s first of a woman and the first of a former East German leader.
- On Tuesday, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented her official portrait, which will join the Federal Chancellery's gallery as the first depiction of a woman and the first leader raised in the German Democratic Republic.
- Merkel commissioned 28-year-old German-French painter Jeremie Queyras in 2025 after he first contacted her in 2022 with a handwritten letter including samples of his work.
- Displayed at the Bode Museum in Berlin from July 1 to October 4, the portrait shows Merkel in a vibrant blue blazer against a golden background before moving to the Chancellery.
- Asked about joining the gallery Helmut Kohl established for postwar German leaders, Merkel told Die Zeit: "It's strange when you slowly become history. That's simply where I'll be hanging."
- Olaf Scholz, Merkel's successor, has not yet commissioned a portrait for the gallery, which contains works that once inspired President George W. Bush.
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59 Articles
Not only artists shape a commissioned work – also their clients. Renowned art scholar Wolfgang Ullrich explains why Angela Merkel's new portrait primarily tells of her own precaution and what the chancellor gallery lacks for real artistic significance.
Determined, thoughtful look, bright blue blazer: This symbolism is contained in Angela Merkel's chancellor portrait.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has unveiled her official portrait, four and a half years after leaving office, which will become part of the gallery of German and West German chancellors in the Berlin residence of the head of the federal government. The author of the painting is the young, still little-known German-French painter Jérémie Queyras.
By 4 October, the portrait of the German chancellor will be shown to the public at the Bode Museum. Afterwards, she will be transferred to the Federal Chancellery.
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