(Ceska Lipa 1745–1798 Hamburg)
Portrait of Emperor Leopold II, wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, half-length,
oil on canvas, 99 x 74 cm, framed

We are grateful to Georg Lechner for suggesting the attribution of the present work to Anton Hickel.

Hickel was born in Česká Lípa, or Böhmisch Leipa, in what is now the Czech Republic, and enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 1758. After graduation, he worked as a painter under his brother, Joseph Hickel. Beginning in 1779, he served as a travelling portrait painter. He spent considerable time in Munich where he painted Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, among others, before continuing his travels in southern Germany, Switzerland, and then later to Mannheim and Mainz. After moving to Switzerland in 1785, Hickel became an official court painter of Joseph II upon his return to Vienna. Hickel travelled to France in 1786, where he worked for Queen Marie-Antoinette and painted his well-known portrait of Marie-Louise, Princesse de Lamballe. Forced to leave France following the French Revolution, he became an artist of note in London. Probably around the time the present portrait was commissioned, Anton Hickel helped his brother on an important commission – the emperor had demanded the creation of a portrait gallery of all the main actors of the Imperial Burgtheater. As this was an enormous undertaking, Anton Hickel had to support his brother and painted portraits of the actors Jacquet-Adamberger, Katharina Jacquet, Nouseul, and Stierle (see G. Sebestyén, Burgtheater-Galerie. 148 Künstlerporträts der „Ehrengalerie“ des Wiener Burgtheaters nach Aufnahmen von Csaba Tarcsay. Mit einer historisch-biographischen Dokumentation von Konrad Schrögendorfer, Vienna 1976). The present painting shares many similar characteristics with other known works by Hickel during these years that helps to firmly place the present work within his known oeuvre.
The present work exhibits a great sensibility in the rendering of the facial features, a quite peculiar way of painting hands and flesh tones, as well as a certain, harsh handling of metallic surfaces, rich, velvety fabrics, gold embroidery and lace.