Angela Merkel (71) has had her portrait painted for the gallery of chancellors in the Berlin Chancellery. The former chancellor sat for the painting over a period of months. This is reported by the weekly newspaper Die Zeit in its current issue, which claims to have exclusively accompanied the creation process. With this painting, a woman enters for the first time the previously exclusively male-dominated line of heads of government.
The commission went to the previously little-known artist Jérémie Queyras (28). He had already informally applied to Merkel in 2022 with a handwritten letter. However, according to Die Zeit, she only made her decision in June 2025, after an initial personal meeting. Queyras grew up in Freiburg, studied art in London and Paris, and moved to Berlin for the commission. In addition to painting, he is engaged with the role of artificial intelligence in art and has been involved in numerous performances.
A Standing Portrait in a Blue Blazer
The painting was created in a specially set up, secret studio in Berlin. Unlike her male predecessors, who had themselves portrayed sitting, Merkel chose to stand, according to Die Zeit, dressed in a blue blazer. According to the report, the canvas measures 110 by 140 centimeters, making it somewhat larger than the paintings of Gerhard Schröder and Helmut Kohl. Merkel paid for the materials and fee herself; the newspaper does not mention a specific sum.
According to Die Zeit, the painting contains several references to Merkel's time in office: a table with loose papers, a yellow file folder, and a silver cube engraved with 'In calmness lies strength' - a gift at the start of her term.
Merkel Wants to Decide About the Painting Herself
The former chancellor wants to decide herself about the whereabouts of the work. The portrait is merely on loan, writes Die Zeit; should, for example, a far-right extremist ever be elected head of government, she could withdraw it from the Chancellery. The painting will be seen for the first time at an opening on Tuesday (June 30) at the Berlin Bode Museum. Subsequently, it will be shown there from July 1 to October 4, as announced by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The portrait is scheduled to move to the gallery of chancellors at the Chancellery at the earliest in October.
When asked how it feels to hang in the future next to Konrad Adenauer and the other former chancellors, Merkel told Die Zeit: 'It's strange when you slowly become history.' However, she tries to take it with equanimity: 'There I'll hang, then.'
