(Česká Lípa 1745–1798 Hamburg)
Portrait of Emperor Joseph II, wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece,
oil on canvas, 99 x 74 cm, framed

We are grateful to Georg Lechner for suggesting the attribution of the present work to Anton Hickel.

This portrait is a rare exception in the iconography of the Emperor Joseph II, whose image was one of the most widely spread of all the rulers of the Habsburg dynasty. The present work is notable for being a rare example of Joseph with all the Imperial pomp of the Habsburg court, contrasting with his usually modest personal style which can be seen in the other extant portraits of the monarch.

Portraits of Joseph II usually depict him wearing a simple uniform representing his personal enlightened rule, in part as a reflection of Joseph’s admiration of Frederick the Great of Prussia. The present work however shows the ruler in armour, which is painted in great detail and in a particularly refined manner. Similarly, the imperial crown and orb feature prominently. In an attempt to link the ruler to the glorious past of his dynasty, the depiction in armour draws inspiration from portraits of the preceding generation, notably Martin van Meytens’ portraits of Emperor Francis I Stephen and his brother, Charles Alexander of Lorraine, who were both painted in magnificent suits of armour. In a way, Hickel choosing this type of portrait represents almost an anachronism in late eighteenth-century portraiture that is, however, not without contemporary precedence. Joseph Kreutzinger would portray Emperor Francis II wearing armour and a millstone ruff as late as 1806 (Francis II in Armour, Schloss Laxenburg). Heinrich Friedrich Füger painted the emperor in a full-length portrait that is purely historicist and quite theatrically dramatic (Heinrich Friedrich Füger, Emperor Joseph II wearing armour, circa 1787–1788, Wien Museum, inv. no. 139700). It would be plausible to assume that the historicising and military iconography of the present painting is somehow linked to Joseph’s engagement in the Austro-Russian Turkish war from 1788–91, in the same way that Portrait of Joseph II by Franz Streicher, in the Benediktinerabtei Michaelbeuern, Salzburg, was painted in the context of the War of the Bavarian Succession

Hickel was born in Česká Lípa, or Böhmisch Leipa, in what is now the Czech Republic, and enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 1758. After graduation, he worked as a painter under his brother, Joseph Hickel. Beginning in 1779, he served as a travelling portrait painter. He spent considerable time in Munich where he painted Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, among others, before continuing his travels in southern Germany, Switzerland, and then later to Mannheim and Mainz. After moving to Switzerland in 1785, Hickel became an official court painter of Joseph II upon his return to Vienna. Hickel travelled to France in 1786, where he worked for Queen Marie-Antoinette and painted his well-known portrait of Marie-Louise, Princesse de Lamballe. Forced to leave France following the French Revolution, he became an artist of note in London. Probably around the time the present portrait was commissioned, Anton Hickel helped his brother on an important commission – the emperor had demanded the creation of a portrait gallery of all the main actors of the Imperial Burgtheater. As this was an enormous undertaking, Anton Hickel had to support his brother and painted portraits of the actors Jacquet-Adamberger, Katharina Jacquet, Nouseul, and Stierle (see G. Sebestyén, Burgtheater-Galerie. 148 Künstlerporträts der „Ehrengalerie“ des Wiener Burgtheaters nach Aufnahmen von Csaba Tarcsay. Mit einer historisch-biographischen Dokumentation von Konrad Schrögendorfer, Vienna 1976). The present painting shares many similar characteristics with other known works by Hickel during these years that helps to firmly place the present work within his known oeuvre. The present work exhibits a great sensibility in the rendering of the facial features, a quite peculiar way of painting hands and flesh tones, as well as a certain, harsh handling of metallic surfaces, rich, velvety fabrics, gold embroidery and lace.