(Geneva 1702–1789)
Portrait of Empress Maria Theresa,
pastel on card, 65 x 52 cm, framed

Provenance:
Princes of Thurn and Taxis, Castello di Duino, Trieste;
Sale, Duino, Beaussant Lefèvre, 11–14 June 1997, lot 298;
European private collection

Literature:
M. Roethlisberger, R. Loche, Jean Etienne Liotard 1702–1789, vol. 1, Doornspijk, 2008, pp. 303, 308, fig. 200 (as after Liotard, but ‘exécution digne de Liotard’)

We are grateful to Neil Jeffares for confirming the attribution of the present painting on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph.

The present pastel shows the Empress as a half-length figure, slightly turned to the side. Her hands are not visible and only one arm can be seen, so that the focus is clearly on the face. The painting is an autograph version of a painting made in 1743 and presented to Count Goëss in 1765 and now in Ebenthal Palace. In both pictures, the Empress wears a blue robe embellished with an elaborate border and appears without her crown. There are many examples in Liotard’s oeuvre where the red lake he used for such passages has faded and exposes the dark brown hatching intended to show through as a shadow, but which now resembles a somewhat oddly unfinished area. The treatment of the flesh tones and of the face in particular shows the characteristic features of works by Liotard.

The numerous portraits Liotard made of the Empress have to be seen in a larger political context. The death of Emperor Charles VI in 1740 had left the Habsburg dynasty without a male heir, which led to disputes with Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and France within and after the War of the Austrian Succession between 1740 and 1748. Maria Theresa had finally brought peace to her country and was considered the embodiment of Austria. Consequently, there was a great demand for portraits of the Empress especially in Vienna, to which Liotard responded alongside other artists.

Liotard was first in Vienna between 1743 and 1745 and became a very popular artist at Maria Theresa’s court. Most of the portraits Liotard painted of members of royal dynasties in Europe depict the Habsburg family. In his autobiography, Liotard reports that he was received at the court on the day after his arrival, when he appeared in an Ottoman costume. On the following day he met Maria Theresa, who was enthusiastic about his pictures. He asked for permission to paint her, and she agreed. He became successful immediately, although Vienna, after his long visit to Constantinople, confronted the artist with an entirely different ambience.