(1710-nach 1780)
attributed to, A portrait of Empress Maria Theresa in a widow’s clothes, wearing a medallion with the portrait of her husband Franz Stefan von Lothringen in an interior with blue wallpaper, watercolour on vellum, 40 x 32 cm, framed, (water damage in the lower right third of the picture), (Hu)

We are grateful to Dr. Ilsebill Barta and Dr. Elfriede Iby, Vienna, for the scientific support.

Compare:
Joseph Ducreux, Portraits of Empress Maria Theresa in a widow’s costume (Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna); Anton von Maron, Maria Theresia in a widow’s costume (Schönbrunn Castle); A shade with the portrait of the Empress, illustrated in: Andrea Smetana, Neu entdeckte Porträtkameen der Kaiserlichen Familie von Philipp Abraham, Katalog Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Maria Theresia, Habsburgs mächtigste Frau, Eigenverlag, Vienna 2017, No. 124o. p. Portraits in various techniques counted to the most important media of communication for the Empress. As Maria Theresa travelled rarely, many letters and portraits tell about her life. Portrait painters were widely sought-after by the Viennese court. Artists executed numerous gifts of honour and diplomatic presents. Members of the Bencini family appear frequently in the account books of the Chamber Office of the Imperial Court which confirm their activity for the Hapsburgs.

Literature:
Robert Keil, Die Porträtminiaturen des Hauses Habsburg, Verlag Amartis, Vienna 1999. Eva Kernbauer, Aneta Zahradnik, Höfische Porträtkultur, Die Bildnissammlung der Austriaischen Erzherzogin Maria Anna, Edition Angewandte, de Gruyter, Berlin 2016.