Heinrich Friedrich Fueger

Vente anonyme, Christie's, Londres, 8 juin 1971, lot 75

E. Leisching, Die Bildnisminiatur in Osterreich, 1750-1850, Vienne, 1906, p. 102-3;
F. Laban, Unveröffentlichte Füger-Miniaturen, Leipzig, 1909, p. 249;
A. Springer, Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte, vol. V, Leipzig, 1925, p. 190, fig. 221;
E. Conderhove-Erthal, Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte, vol. X, Die Kunst am Hofe des Ersten Kurfursten von Mainz, 1935, no. 55, p. 77

The miniature is very strong and powerful, the colours has been well preserved. There is a crack to the ivory located at the upper left edge of the sheet, this measures circa 45mm.
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Von Erthal était le dernier Electeur et archevêque de Mayence (Allemagne). Né à Mayence en 1719, il passa ses premières années dans les villes de Reims et Bamberg. En 1753, il rentra à Mayence où il prit un poste de chanoîne à la cathédrale. En 1769, il était devenu recteur de l’Université et président du conseil Aulique. En 1774 il fut ordonné prêtre et le 18 juillet de la même année il reçut le titre d’Electeur et d’archevêque de Mayence. Huit jours plus tard, il prit le titre de Prince-Evêque de Worms. Admiré pour ses qualités de libre penseur mais aussi pour ses idées libérales, son règne fut détruit par les guerres napoléoniennes. En 1797, il fut dépossédé de ses territoires situés à l’ouest du Rhin et il en perdit la juridiction spirituelle en 1801.  

Fueger était l’un des plus grands miniaturistes de son temps. Il se forma dans l’atelier de Raphael Mengs puis vers le milieu des années 1770, il commença sa carrière à Vienne sous la protection de l’Impératrice Marie-Thérèse. Il partit en Italie en 1776, et y passa cinq années avant de rentrer à Vienne. 

Cette imposante miniature fut peinte en 1789 pendant le séjour de six jours de l’artiste à Mayence. Le modèle est représenté assis sur un trône et portant l’ordre de Grand Maitre de l’ordre Teutonique. 

Fueger a souvent peint plusieurs versions de ses compositions lorsqu’il s’agissait de modèles importants. Il existe plusieurs versions de notre miniature qui est sans équivoque possible, la plus importante de celles réalisées de von Erthal. 

Von Erthal was the Last Elector and Archbishop of Mainz. Born in Mainz in January 1719, he spent his early years in the cities of Reims and Bamberg. By 1753 he had returned to Mainz and held the position of Canon at the Cathedral.  By 1769 he had become Rector of the University and President of the Aulic Council. In 1774, he was ordained as a priest and on 18 July 1774 was appointed Elector and Archbishop of Mainz. Eight days later he took the title Prince-Bishop of Worms.  Admired for this free thinking and liberal views, his reign was destroyed by the Napoleonic wars. In 1797 his territories to the west of the Rhine were taken from him, while in 1801 he lost his spiritual jurisdiction over these areas.   Fueger was one of the greatest miniaturists of his day. Having studied under Raphael Mengs, by the mid-1770, he was painting in Vienna under the protection of Empress Maria-Theresa. He spent five years in Italy from 1776 before returning to Vienna. This imposing and grand miniature was painted in 1789, during the artist’s six month stay in the city of Mainz. The sitter is shown sitting on a throne wearing the badge of a Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. As was often the case with eminent sitters, Fueger painted several versions of this miniature, however the present work is unequivocally the most important of those he painted of von Erthal.

Heinrich Friedrich Fueger, Portrait of Frederick Charles Joseph, Baron von Erthal, Archbishop, Elector of Mainz (1719- 1802) ; Watercolour and bodycolour on ivory, ormolu frame decorated with a golden pearl motif ; Signed lower right on the base of sitter's chair: Fuger. / pinxit / 1789