Due to overwhelming interest, the portrait of former chancellor Angela Merkel will remain on view even longer at Berlin’s Museum Island. The painting will now stay on display at the Bode Museum through January 3, 2027, the museum announced. Merkel will also make a personal appearance on October 4 and sign postcards bearing the portrait.
The painting was unveiled at the end of June, and visitor numbers at the museum have nearly doubled since. It was originally supposed to remain on view only until early October before moving on loan to the Federal Chancellery.
Merkel (CDU) took her time before settling on an artist. The portrait was ultimately painted by Jérémie Queyras. The young artist comes from a family of musicians in Freiburg and applied for the commission with a handwritten letter to Merkel in 2022.
How the artist painted Merkel
The painting shows the former chancellor in a vivid blue blazer against a golden-brown background. She’s depicted standing, cropped at the knee, one hand resting on the back of a chair.
At the unveiling, Merkel had explained that she wanted to take her time with the portrait. “I needed some distance,” she said at the time. The portrait wasn’t meant to become another item on a to-do list to work through, “but I wanted to find joy in a process like that.” Merkel had served as chancellor for 16 years.