Angela Merkel officially ended her 16-year tenure as Chancellor of Germany on December 8, 2021. But he waited several years after leaving office before hiring an artist to create his portrait for the official gallery of former German leaders.
Merkel presented the painting on Tuesday evening. The picture shows her in front of a golden background, looking off into the distance in one of her signature blazers, this one a vibrant blue.
The new portrait of Merkel will be on display at Berlin’s Bode Museum from July 1 to October 4, before being added to the Federal Chancellery Gallery, where all former post-war German heads of government are immortalized.
A young artist gets a big break
For the work, Merkel chose a previously little-known artist, Jeremy Queiras, who was born in Paris in 1997 and grew up in Freiburg.
According to the German weekly TimeThe 28-year-old German-French painter first approached Merkel in 2022, informally contacting her with a handwritten letter that included copies of his work.
Merkel decided to commission him after a preliminary meeting only in the summer of 2025.
A studio was specially set up in Berlin, where several posing sessions took place.
The heads of the German government lined up after the war
It was Helmut Kohl, who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998, who came up with the idea of creating a gallery of paintings.
The painting of Angela Merkel will become the eighth portrait in the gallery – the first of a woman, as well as the first portrait of a person who grew up in the former communist German Democratic Republic (GDR).
When asked how he felt about being included in the Chancellery’s Portrait Gallery, he said Time: “It’s strange when you slowly become history.”
“This is where I’ll be hanging out,” she said practically.
According to recent reports, Merkel’s successor Olaf Scholz has not yet commissioned any of his portraits for the gallery.
Angela Merkel’s iconic pictures from the past
Many artistic depictions of Markle were published while she was in office, including in American magazines.
A painting by artist Colin Davidson served as the cover of the 2015 year-end issue Time magazine, when he was named Person of the Year. Another painting by American painter Elizabeth Peyton circulation Magazine cover story in 2017.
Even former US President George W. Bush was also inspired by the German Chancellor’s iconic status when he planned to portray his series of 30 world leaders.
Edited by: Sarah Huckle.