Portrait (photography) of Gregor Johann Mendel
Alois Zenker | 1884 | oil on canvas, 90,5 ×117,5 cm | marked lower left: “Alois Zenker 1884”
The posthumous portrait of Gregor Johann Mendel, an Augustinian abbot (prelate), is executed with Zenker’s (1845–1903) typical sensitivity to the model. Mendel, seated with his right arm resting on the table top, has his head turned slightly towards his right shoulder. The scientist is depicted here with all the abbot’s insignia – mitre, crutch, pectoral and ring. The portrait was apparently based on a photographic model made by Antonín Mayssl. Mayssl (1826–1899), an outstanding Brno photographer, created, among other things, the most famous portrait of Gregor J. Mendel, which became the basis for Mendel’s painted likeness.