Lot 113: E. Bernhard, Chevalier de Guérard , d. 1836 Portrait of a lady, possibly Archduchess Maria Ludovica of Austria, later Empress of Austria (1787-1816)

wearing a lace trimmed white dress and a blue shawl, gilt-metal frame signed l.l.: B. Ch. de Guérard fait , circa 1813

5.6 by 4.4 cm.; 2 3/16 by 1 11/16 in.

This miniature is a variant of another, signed by de Guérard and dated 1813, in the House of Orange-Nassau Historic Collections Trust (inv. no. m 441, see Schaffers-Bodenhausen/Tiethoff-Spliethoff 1993, no. 171, illustrated).

The identity of the sitter in this miniature is uncertain. It possibly represents Archduchess Maria Ludovica of Austria-Este (1787-1816), third consort of Franz I, Emperor of Austria. The features, however, do not correspond exactly to those depicted in an authenticated portrait of the Empress, painted by de Guérard in 1807, in the collection of the Imperial House of Habsburg, Vienna (see Keil 1999, no. 237, illustrated). This may be the consequence of increased stylisation brought on by ceaseless repetition of an official portrait.