Alfred Prince Montenuovo 1917 Duplicate
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Half portrait en face, arms slightly bent. The portrayed is depicted with bald head, blond mustache and white, short full beard and in rich golden court uniform. He wears a purple-green shoulder ribbon (of the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen) across his chest, which is further decorated with seven medals and insignia, including the Habsburg House Order of the Golden Fleece.
JQAW# P_1917_031
Oil on canvas 85 x 66 cm
Signature: John Quincy Ɑdams 1917.
Private collection Austria.
Illustration: private photo.
Alfred Prince of Montenuovo 16.9.1854 Vienna to 6.9.1927 Vienna. S. his biography in the OeBL and his main entry in this catalogue.
The present duplicate of the Adam's portrait of Alfred von Montenuovo was probably made at the same time as the original (Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna) and possibly from a photographic original (see cross-references). The duplicate corresponds to the original completely, also in the picture and frame dimensions (102 x 82 cm). Only the year 1917 is placed differently (below the "Ɑdams" of the signature, whereas in the original the year is placed at the bottom right next to the signature). The color impression of the duplicate is somewhat more subdued. This is probably due to the different lighting and camera used in the two photographs (museum quality vs. private photograph) as well as the fact that the original, with two exceptions, spent more than 100 years in storage, whereas the duplicate was hung appreciatively by Montenuovo's descendants and was thus exposed to light and dust. It is likely that Adams made other duplicates of his works besides the present one, the portrait of Emperor Franz Josef (with a slightly smaller cropping) as well as the portrait of Helene Odilon (identical duplicate), but these have not been documented in the literature so far. For this reason, too, the Montenuovo duplicate is particularly valuable, because it impressively demonstrates the artist's skill as a copyist.
Exhibited
Literature
Provenance
The sitter.
His family descendants.
Private collection Austria.