Description
"portrait of karl albrecht wittelsbach (1697-1745), elector of bavaria (1726-45) and later charles vii, holy roman emperor (1742-5) standing, three-quarter length, wearing ceremonial dress and the order of the golden fleece; and portrait of his wife, maria amalia (1701-56), daughter of joseph i, standing three-quarter length, wearing an embroidered gown draped with an ermine cape
the first inscribed with inventory numbers '103', and on the reverse 'n66' and on a label on the stretcher which reads 'sammlung von der schulenburg/hehlen 1957/no. 37'; the second inscribed with the inventory numbers '105' and on the reverse 'n33' and on a label on the stretcher 'unveläusseliches eigentum/des gräflich schulenbuigshen/hauses hehlen in hehlen a. D. W. '
oil on canvas--both unlined except at the edges
43 x 32in. (109 x 81cm. ) a pair (2)
born into a saxon family closely related to the hanoverian dynasty, schulenburg chose a military career and served in most of the great wars of europe of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, fighting for the austrians in the hungarian campaign against the turks, 1687-8, for the house of savoy, for augustus the strong of saxony against charles xii of sweden, and in the wars of the spanish succession, leading the infantry under the command of prince eugene at malplaquet. His brilliant defence of corfu against superior turkish forces in 1715 and 1716 earned him the admiration of europe, and particularly of the venetians, in whose employ he was to remain for thirty years. He established himself in venice at the palazzo loredan, san trovaso, and in 1724, at the age of sixty-three, began to collect art, buying from a dealer, giovanni battista rota, eighty-eight paintings, most of which were formerly in the collection of the dukes of mantua. He subsequently became one of the most energetic patrons and collectors of his day, acquiring works by almost all of the leading venetian artists and amassing in the following two decades over nine hundred paintings, which he began in 1735 to send back in crates to his german estates. About 150 pictures were sold at christie's on april 12-13, 1775, but a large group remained together at hanover until the 1980s and the collection is very well documented in the hanover archives (for general accounts of schulenburg's activities as a collector, see f. Haskell, patrons and painters. Art and society in baroque italy, 1980, pp. 310-15, and a. Binion, from schulenburg's gallery and records, the burlington magazine, cxii, no. 806, may 1970, pp. 297-303). Schulenburg liked portraits, whether of himself to send to other people or of members of the royal houses of europe to display on his own walls to show his powerful connections. Guardi produced for him at least forty, of which twenty were of the marshal himself (see, for instance, ibid, no. 118, fig. 140 and colour pl. I). Schulenburg held a particular admiration for the house of austria, many of whom he had painted, prince eugene having been responsible for recommending his services to the venetians in 1715. These included 'l'imperatrice vedova', elisabeth christine, widow of charles vi (sold at christie's, london, april 23, 1993, lot 18) , 'la regina d'ungheria', her daughter maria teresa, wife of francis i of lorraine (ibid, no. 128), 'il pincipe carlo' and 'l'archiduchessa marianne', elisabeth christine's other daughter (both untraced). " [1]. Date: 18th century. Dimensions: height: 110.5 cm (43.5 in); width: 80 cm (31.4 in). Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Unidentified location.
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