Emperor Charles I in gala uniform 1917

Full portrait standing in gala uniform. Red pants, light gray uniform coat, in the left hand a mace with green feathers, in the right holding a rapier. Around the shoulders a black coat with red lining. On the chest three orders, including the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Order of Maria Theresa. Across the chest a yellow-blue silk ribbon. Background: marble staircase with corinthian column, and a gathered tapestry or brocade curtain.

JQAW# P_1917_010
Oil on canvas 235 x 146 cm.
Signature: John Quincy Ɑdams 1917.
Belvedere Vienna, Inv.no. 3718.

.
Karl Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary. 18. 8. 1887 (Persenbeug) to 1.4.1922 (Madeira, Portugal). For biography see the entry in the OeBL and the catalog entry for "Emperor Charles in the Field 1916 " and the cross-references there.

The last portrait of Archduke / Emperor Charles I., which Adams created according to the signature in 1917, is also the only one that shows the emperor in an imperial setting (gala uniform, palace background). The actual portrait is identical to the earlier portraits (Emperor Charles in the Field and Archduke Charles as Colonel of the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger). The imperial background is fictitious and is probably meant to remind us of the Neue Hofburg in Vienna. The painting was probably purchased directly from the artist for the Imperial Picture Gallery, or dedicated to it by Adams.

Cross-references

Exhibited

Literature

Provenance

1917 Empress Zita / Imperial Picture gallery, Vienna.
1921 KHM, Vienna.
1949 Belvedere Vienna, Inv.#3718.