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Nanette Heine, nee Kaula 1812-1876 (the subject of our portrait) was painted by Joseph Karl Stieler in 1829 and hangs in the
Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. In the 18th century, Caroline Kuala and her brother Jakob became officials in the court of the Duke of Wurstenberg. Their descendants expanded commercial and banking business in Germany and established public institutions. their sense of belonging in Germany is reflected in the inscription on Caroline's tombstone, "Here lies a great woman of her people and her homeland". Following the Nazi rise to power, most of the Kaula family left Germany. The ones who remained converted to Christianity and believed that as such the race laws of Nuremberg didn't apply to them. Among them were Johanna Kaula and her daughter Margaret. The latter appealed to the Nazi legal authorities for formal recognition as Christians. Both were deported to concentration camps as Jews where they perished.
Stieler, who originally came from Mainz, was well known for his sensitive portraits. His portrait style was most especially shaped during his work in the Parisian atelier of Francois Gerard, a student of David. After a long stay in Italy he worked mainly in the service of the Bavarian court. His painted likenesses in Schloss Nymphenburg - the so-called "Schonheitengalerie" or gallery of beauties - were commissioned by King Ludwig I and are his most famous works. The most distinguishing feature of Stieler's portraits is his utter focus on the sitter. Decorative additions are left out, and there is nothing that distracts the viewer's scrutiny. Stieler accomplished this concentration through deliberate light-dark contrast, which above all highlights the accurately characterized facial features.
In 1820 he was appointed court painter to Ludwig I, King of Bavaria (reg 1825–1848), and painted several portraits of him. Stieler, was commissioned by King Ludwig I to paint a portrait gallery of 36 of the most beautiful ladies in the land for the Schoenheitsgalerie (1827–1842). The subjects include Nanette Kaula, 17, daughter of the head of the Jewish community, who was married to a nephew of Heinrich Heine. Stieler was not only technically highly accomplished, but has also left a document of the ideal of beauty of his time.
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