ABSTRACT
Anna Amalia's informal musical portrait with the flute highlights her erudition and musical connoisseurship while celebrating her role as regent, and more importantly her ability to perform as a man in the public sphere and in times of war. Anna Amalia's portrait by Johann Georg Ziesenis clearly demonstrates her active role in her own self-fashioning as a serious composer. In the process, the portrait manages to represent Anna Amalia gendered as feminine, yet with traits that are more typically associated with the masculine realm. In preparation for private life and her plan to enjoy the arts and philosophy, Anna Amalia commissioned artist Georg Melchior Kraus to produce an informal musical portrait in French taste. In the Encyclopedia's definition of the "Female Sex", music was considered a polite pastime that was intended not to highlight a woman's artistic genius or originality but her modest ability.
