Lot 69: Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard (Grasse 1780-1850 Paris)

Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard (Grasse 1780-1850 Paris)
The Empress Maria Theresa presenting her son, the future Emperor Joseph II to the Magnates of Hungary
signed 'A fragonard.'
pencil, pen and brown ink, brown wash, gum arabic, heightened with white and gum arabic
9 7/8 x 14¼ in. (251 x 362 mm.)

A finished study for a painting of the same subject exhibited at the Salon of 1822 where it was acquired by the Musée du Luxembourg, now on deposit at the Musée Fragonard in Grasse (G. Vindry, Les peintres de la famille de Jean-Honoré Fragonard, exhib. cat., Grasse, Musée Fragonard, 1988, no. 30). Maria Theresa (1717-1780) was the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. After the death of her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, she assumed the regency for her son, Joseph I (she was also mother to Queen Marie-Antoinette). In this drawing she is presenting the infant Joseph to various Hungarian factions in a bid to win their support against the Elector of Bavaria in reclaiming the Imperial title.
Fragonard, a student of Jacques-Louis David seems to have been as politically nimble as his teacher and made compositions of current and historical events that exalted the Republic and the monarchy depending on the reigning power.