Portrait  of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria by Georg Martin Ignaz Raab, Georg Martin Ignaz (1821 - Vienna - 1885).

The portrait depicts Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in Hungarian coronation robes, or Hungarian gala uniform.

The Emperor wears the velvet Hungarian coronation mantle, the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece around his neck, and various high decorations (such as the Military Order of Maria Theresa and the Order of Saint Stephen). The image commemorates the historic coronation of Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth (Sisi) on June 8, 1867, in Budapest, which sealed the Austro-Hungarian Compromise.

The author of this extremely rare portrait Georg Martin Ignaz Raab was the son  of a court paymaster; studied 1833–37 at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, among others under Kupelwieser; he distinguished himself as a particularly skilled portrait painter in both watercolor and oil painting as well as in the field of lithography and soon specialized in ivory miniatures. 

Works: Infant, c. 1850; Archduke Rudolf in a Pillow, c. 1859; Archduke Rudolf as an Infant, 1860; Archduchess, 1860; Archduchess Gisela, c. 1867 (all in the Albertina Graphic Collection, Vienna); F. von Pirquet, 1865 (private collection, Vienna); Princess Elisabeth, 1873, 1879; Emperor Franz Joseph, 1875; etc.

Literature: Bénézit; Seubert; Thieme-Becker; Wurzbach; F. v. Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jh. 2/1, 1898; L. R. Schidlof, The Miniature in Europe . . . 2, 1964 (with catalogue raisonné); H. Fuchs, Die Österr. Maler des 19. Jh. 3, 1973; H. Schöny, Wr. Künstler-Ahnen 2, 1975, p. 30; N. Keil, Die Miniaturen der Albertina in Wien, 1977, pp. 128

Provenance: from an Austrian baronial estate.

Inscription: signed in the middle left.

Technique: oil on canvas, original frame.

Measurements: unframed w 23 5/8" x h 29 1/8"(60 x 74 cm), framed 29 1/8" x 34 5/8" (74 x 88 cm).

Condition: very good, original canvas.