Munsey's Magazine Cover

This September 1906 issue of Munsey's Magazine contains a substantial biographical-critical article titled "Franz von Lenbach: The Historian-Portraitist of Modern Germany" by Christian Brinton. The piece surveys the German painter's life from his birth as the son of a Bavarian stonemason through his rise as the preeminent portrait painter of nineteenth-century German political and cultural figures. Brinton details Lenbach's training under Munich masters and his copying of Renaissance masterworks before his turn to exclusive portraiture following his 1868 encounter with Richard Wagner's circle. The article emphasizes Lenbach's technique of reducing subjects to singular conceptual essences and his particular mastery in capturing male subjects—especially Bismarck and Moltke—over female sitters. Extensive reproduction of Lenbach paintings accompanies the text. A brief lyric poem by Arthur Stringes titled "Phyllis and Her Fan" appears at the issue's opening.