(1775–1820)
Portrait of Archduke Carl in the uniform of a field marshal with the order of the Golden Fleece and portrait of Princess Henriette von Nassau-Weilburg consort of Archduke Carl in a white dress against a landscape backdrop, titled „Erzherzog Carl Sieger von Aspern“ and „Henriette Prinzessin von Hessen Nassau-Weilburg, Gemahlin des Erzherzogs Carl des Siegers von Aspern“ on the reverse, watercolour, gouache on ivory, round format, diameters 9 and 10 cm, framed, (2) (BH)

Provenance:
Dorotheum Vienna, 15th November 1955, lots 196 and 197 (as attributed to Natale Schiavoni); Private property Austria.

Exhibited:
Schloss Weilburg in Baden: Symbol einer Liebe, Baden 2015.

Subject to species protection (ASA)

Archduke Carl of Austria was the son of Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his spouse Maria Ludovica of Spain. From early on Carl was enthusiastic about military affairs. As a war minister he could implement several reforms in the Austrian army. Carl went down in the historical awareness of posterity as the “Sieger von Aspern” (victor of Aspern) due to his victory in the battle of Aspern against Napoleon in May 1809.

Carl got to know Princess Henriette von Nassau-Weilburg in Weilburg an der Lahn Castle in 1815. She was then 17 years old. During their engagement the lovers wrote each other many letters which have survived and prove their growing love to each other. They had pictures produced and sent to each other. From the letters we learn that after the engagement the couple commissioned the well known painter and engraver Peter Joseph Lützenkirchen (1775-1820) with portraits. Carl’s portrait has come down to us as a mezzotint (Austrian national Library, portrait collection, illustrated in: Bettina Nezval, Schloss Weilburg in Baden, Symbol einer Liebe, Baden 2015, pp. 29-33), Henriette’s portrait has not yet been identified. In a letter of Henriette to Carl of July 17th, 1815 she notes: „… Today in the morning I received the promised engraving which Count Grünne sent to Herrn von Dungeon. I am endlessly pleased and I must admit that the earlier one compared to this one in regard of resemblance stands far back.” In a letter of Carl to Henriette dated July 19, 1815 the archduke remarks: “…Count Grünne was very pleased about the good reception of my portrait and is very grateful for the assignment which you gave me for him…”

On August 1st 1815 Henriette responded “-… As soon as I have finished my letter Lützenkirchen will appear; I regret that my picture cannot not be finished before Biebrich: yours (the picture) must often leave its place above the settee in order to be seen in better light, the more I look at it, the more I find it resembling. I will take it also to Biebrich, because I can impossibly separate myself from it…” Henriette could send her portrait to Carl only on August 22nd (according to the letters in the Hungarian National Archive, cited from Bettina Nezval, Schloss Weilburg in Baden, Symbol einer Liebe, Baden 2015, pp. 29-33).

After the Emperor had given permission to the marriage of Carl with the Protestant chosen one the wedding could take place in Weilburg an der Lahn castle in 1815. In 1820 Archduke Carl had Weilburg Palace near Baden south of Vienna built by the architect Joseph Kornhäusel as a summer residence for his wife. After its completion the couple withdrew into private life there. Weilburg palace was one of the most significant classicist buildings in Austria before it was demolished in 1964 because of severe war damages. Due to its beautiful location it was a popular motif for many painters.

It is difficult to determine whether relations existed between the two miniatures and Peter Joseph Lützenkirchen as hardly any work by the artist’ hand has come down to us. A self-portrait by the artist, which was executed in 1815 is kept in the Cologne Stadtmuseum, a miniature is preserved in the Germanischen Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg and two miniatures were sold at an auction at the Dorotheum in Vienna on April 2nd 2015, lot 385. Josef Giesen writes on page 131 of his essay „Der Maler P. J. Lützenkirchen, ein Freund Wallrafs“, in: Jahrbuch des Kölnischen Geschichtsvereins, Bd. 8/9, 1927, pp. 122–134:
„The recommendation von Steins earned Lützenkirchen a series of further assignments. One may say that he immortalized all significant men of the time, whether in oil paintings or in miniatures cannot be determined. The threads spin from Nassau to Weilburg. Princess Henriette von Nassau-Weilburg married Archduke Carl of Austria, the victor of Aspern, in Mainz in 1815. Lützenkirchen had the privilege to paint the festivities. Due to mezzotint sheet, which Lützenkirchen executed after a picture of Carl, the portrait of the smart and delicate aristocrat is known to us, whereas the original picture is hidden in any Viennese collection.”