(Antwerp 1675–1750 Vienna)
Portrait of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736), full-length, in armour wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece,
oil on canvas, 97.5 x 74.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Georg Lechner for the identification of the sitter.

Prince Eugene of Savoy is regarded as one of the most important military commanders and statesmen in modern European history. In a career spanning six decades, Eugene entered the service of the Habsburgs in 1683 and rapidly advanced to become commander-in-chief of the Imperial army, securing a number of major victories over the Ottoman Empire and in the War of Spanish Succession. His first battle experiences were fought against the Ottomans at the Siege of Vienna in 1683 and the subsequent War of the Holy League, before serving in the Nine Years’ War, in which he fought alongside his cousin, the Duke of Savoy. The prince’s fame was secured with his decisive victory against the Ottomans at the Battle of Zenta in 1697, earning him Europe-wide fame. Eugene enhanced his standing during the War of the Spanish Succession, where his partnership with the Duke of Marlborough secured victories against the French on the fields of Blenheim (1704), Oudenarde (1708), and Malplaquet (1709). He gained further success in the war as Imperial commander in Northern Italy, most notably at the Battle of Turin (1706). Renewed hostilities against the Ottomans in the Austro-Turkish War consolidated his reputation, with victories at the Battle of Petrovaradin (1716), and the decisive encounter at the Siege of Belgrade in 1717.

In addition, Prince Eugene was one of the most important patrons of art and science in Vienna during the Baroque era: his Belvedere summer palace in Vienna or his country residence Schloss Hof are among the major examples of Austrian Baroque and his collection of manuscripts and books is among the treasures of the Austrian National Library. With his political fame on the rise, Eugene soon began to assemble his valuable art collection, directly or through the mediation of agents such as Count Philippi and Count Gallas, as part of Europe-wide acquisitions (see M. Braubach, Prinz Eugen von Savoyen, eine Biographie, vol. V, Munich 1965, pp. 11–92). Apart from Dutch and Flemish landscape, genre and still life paintings, Eugene collected paintings with religious and mythological subjects, primarily of Italian origin. Portrait painters such as Johann Gottfried Auerbach and Johann Kupezky captured the personality of the great statesman in portraits. As can be seen from written sources Prince Eugene also sat before Gottfried Kneller in London and Carel de Moor in Leyden (see Braubach, op. cit., pp. 86–87).