Empress maria theresa (1717-1780), she is wearing the black clothes of a widow. Her husband, francis of lorraine, whom she had married in 1736, had died in 1765. Maria theresa was the eldest daughter of the emperor charles vi. She succeeded her father, becoming archduchess of austria, queen of hungary and bohemia and holy roman empress and was a key figure in the power politics of eighteenth-century europe. The miniature is a larger version of another miniature in the collection (royal collection rcin 420699 ). This was based on a portrait painted when the artist, joseph ducreux (1735-1802), was summoned to vienna to paint marie-antoinette, maria theresa's daughter, in 1769. Ducreux's portrait of maria theresa is in the vienna academy and was engraved by jakob schmuzer in 1770. The artist was a well-known portrait painter working in vienna and paris, mainly on full-sized pictures but also in miniature. Object Type: painting. Date: circa 1772. Dimensions: height: 7.9 cm (3.1 in); width: 6.5 cm (2.5 in). Medium: miniature and watercolor on ivory. Collection: Royal Collection.
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