(Vienna 1812-1905)
The so-called Metternich room at Ballhausplatz in Vienna, signed and dated R. Alt (1)879, watercolor on paper, 33 x 49 cm, mounted, framed, damaged frame, several old repaired tears, (BH)

Provenance:
Private collection, Vienna.

Listed in:
Walter Koschatzky, Rudolf von Alt 1812-1905, Salzburg 1976, WVZ 79/15

We are grateful to Dr. Maria Luise Sternath and Dr. David Schriffl for the scientific support.

In this watercolor, Rudolf von Alt provides a view inside the so-called "Metternich Room" in the former Imperial and Royal Ministry of the Household and of Foreign Affairs, which is now the Federal Chancellery on Ballhausplatz. Clemens Wenzel Prince von Metternich (1773-1859), State Secretary and State Chancellor until the revolution of 1848, did not only work in the ministry, but also spent the winter months with his family there. For these purposes, a conversion and extension were carried out under Metternich in the direction of Löwelbastei. The room shown here served Metternich as a study and was located on the 2nd floor of the building. At the time when the watercolor was made, these rooms were used by Gyula Andrássy (1823-1890), then Minister of the Imperial and Royal Household and of Foreign Affairs. The portraits on the walls can be clearly identified: To the right of the fireplace is the portrait of Andrássy's wife Katinka Kendeffy, painted in 1875 by Franz von Lenbach (now in the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest, inv. no. 72.10 B). The large painting by Bertalan Székely, which dominates the room, shows Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary since 1867, in her Hungarian coronation dress (now in the József Attila Múzeum, Makó). The Hungarian coat of arms with the crown of St. Stephen can be seen at the top of the frame. Andrássy, who had fought against the Habsburgs in Hungary during the revolution of 1848/49, met the Austrian empress after his amnesty in 1866. The two subsequently developed a deep friendship and he became one of her closest advisors.
The depicted room was later divided up and today does not exist in this form anymore.