Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented her official portrait for the gallery of heads of government on Tuesday. She waited several years after leaving office in December 2021 before commissioning an artist.

The portrait depicts Merkel against a golden background, wearing one of her signature blazers in vibrant blue, gazing into the distance. The artist is Jeremie Queyras, a 28-year-old German-French painter born in Paris in 1997 and raised in Freiburg.

Queyras first approached Merkel in 2022 with a handwritten letter and copies of his work. In summer 2025, after an initial meeting, Merkel decided to commission him. A studio was set up in Berlin for several posing sessions.

The painting will be displayed at the Bode Museum in Berlin from July 1 to October 4 before joining the Federal Chancellery gallery. It will be the eighth portrait in the gallery — the first of a woman and the first of someone raised in the former communist East Germany.

Asked how she felt about joining the gallery, Merkel told Die Zeit: "It's strange when you slowly become history." Her successor, Olaf Scholz, has not yet commissioned his portrait.

Several artistic depictions of Merkel were made during her tenure, including for TIME magazine's 2015 Person of the Year cover and Vogue's 2017 cover story. Even former US President George W. Bush was inspired by her for his series of world leader portraits.

Source: www.dw.com