(Kirchditmold 1801–1889)
“Rudolph von Habsburg leitet einen Geistlichen mit dem Abendmahle durch einen Bach”, titled on an old label on the reverse and inscribed: von Fr. Müller in Cassel erstanden 1831 in der hannoverschen Kunstausstellung, signed, dated FMüller 1830, oil on canvas, 100 x 129 cm, framed

Provenance:
Königliche Verwaltungs-Kommission 1891, p. 246, no. 126 (169),
Provinzial-Museum, Hanover; Fideikommiss-Galerie 1905;
Hanover (label on the reverse);
Sotheby’s Hanover, Kunstwerke des königlichen Hauses Hannover,
5-15 October 2005, lot 1875.

Exhibited:
Hanoverian Art Exhibition, Hanover, 1905.

The present lot shows an episode from the legendary incident from the life of Rudolf von Habsburg: after the thaw in the spring following a particularly snowy winter, a stream flooded, causing a footbridge to be swept away and leaving a priest who had been called to administer the last rites to an invalid unable to cross the stream. On his way back from hunting, Count Rudolf I of Habsburg also came to this spot with his servant. Rudolf let the priest have his horse so that he could cross the stream on the animal’s back. When the priest wanted to return the horse, Rudolf gave it to him. Because of this generous act, the priest, according to legend, prophesied that the House of Habsburg would rise and flourish.

The history and landscape painter Friedrich Wilhelm Müller who came from Kassel, trained in Paris and Rome, among other places, as a young artist before he was called to Kassel for the first time in 1827. There, he was given larger commissions for the princely residence. However, as these commissions were not made a reality, he went back to Rome. In 1832, he was called to Kassel again, to take up a role as a professor at the Kassel Art Academy, and then settled permanently in his hometown. His closeness to the princely court and its circle helped him to achieve great success, with history painting always at the centre of his work. (JP)