(Leipa/Bohemia 1736–1807 Vienna)

Portrait of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Tuscany with the Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Star and Ribbon of the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen, established in 1764
oil on canvas, 155 x 120 cm, framed

We are grateful to Georg Lechner for suggesting the attribution after examining the present painting in the original.

In terms of both dimensions and painterly ambitions, the work, which was executed shortly after Leopold’s accession to power as grand duke of Tuscany, meets all the requirements associated with an official, stately portrait. No further versions of this portrait, which seems to have been painted in the early 1770s, are known. Supported by an imperial stipend, Hickel travelled to Italy in 1768, where he initially sojourned in Milan and Parma. That same year he was admitted to the Academy in Florence. The present painting shows Hickel committed to the tradition of the Meytens school, while also betraying the artist’s familiarity with contemporary portraiture.

In 1765, Leopold took over the government of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany at the young age of seventeen years. In the present portrait, he seems a little older. Lechner suggests that the portrait was not made in Florence, but in Vienna. The Josephine console table on which the future emperor supports himself suggests a date of execution around 1770. In the present painting, Hickel shows himself strongly committed to Meytens’ art. The contours, which are softer in comparison to the period’s Italian or Italianate portraiture, and the generous, elaborately rendered details (especially the gold embroidery of the garment) speak in favour of an execution in Austria or Vienna. Further details, such as the type of white lace, the area around the eyes, and the green drapery in the background, lead to the conclusion that the artist must have been a student of Martin van Meytens.

Due to these characteristics, as well as the figure style and the general approach, Lechner assumes that the painting is a work by Joseph Hickel. The present painting can be compared to the signed portrait of Emperor Joseph II, dated 1774, in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna.