Conrad GEIGER.1751-1808. Attributed to. - Lot 297

Lot n° 297
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Estimation :
20000 - 30000 EUR
Conrad GEIGER.1751-1808. Attributed to. - Lot 297
Conrad GEIGER.1751-1808. Attributed to. Portrait of Maximilian Joseph I (1756-1825), First King of Bavaria Portrait of Caroline of Baden (1776-1841), First Queen of Bavaria Circa 1807 Oil on canvas Dimensions: 74 cm × 60 cm, With frame: 85 cm × 71 cm. The official effigy of the new rulers of Bavaria In 1799, Maximilian Joseph von Wittelsbach inherited the Duchy of Bavaria and came to power as Elector Maximilian IV. Very close to France, he supported Napoleon politically and militarily when he became head of the Empire. As a reward for his loyalty, the new emperor elevated Bavaria to the rank of kingdom in 1805, making Maximilian the first king of the new state. To seal his alliance with France, Maximilian agreed to break the engagement of his eldest daughter, Augusta, to the Crown Grand Duke of Baden, so that she could marry Eugène de Beauharnais, the French Emperor's adopted son and heir apparent. Produced around 1807, our paintings are probably part of a series of official effigies intended to establish the legitimacy of the new King of Bavaria. The portrait of Maximilian Joseph is a bust version of his official portrait, now in the Bavarian Army Museum. This painting, produced around 1806, lays the foundations for the new royal iconography. As for the portrait of Caroline, a work by Conrad Geiger confirms that it corresponds to the counterpart of the official portrait of her husband, and is therefore based on an official model. Portraiture in the service of the Bavarian dynasty: Geiger, Stieler and Winterhalter This new royal court became the epicenter of Bavarian artistic production, which focused largely on official portraiture. It was against this backdrop that Conrad Geiger, famous for his portraits of notables since the late 18th century, was called upon to represent the new monarchs in 1803. Encouraged by the new monarchs, other Bavarian painters placed their talents at the service of the House of Bavaria. Following in the footsteps of Conrad Geiger, Joseph Stieler was part of this new tradition, making a major contribution to the dissemination of the official image of the Bavarian sovereigns and their descendants. Based at the Bavarian court from 1820 onwards, he painted portraits of all members of the royal family. This artistic tradition was continued by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. A student of Stieler's and trained in his Munich studio, he perpetuated the art of Bavarian court portraiture by depicting the descendants of Maximilian and Caroline of Bavaria, destined to reign or join the major European dynasties. Descendants destined to rule Europe Joseph Maximilian of Bavaria, through his two marriages, left a lasting mark on the history of Europe's greatest courts. His first marriage was to Princess Auguste-Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt (1765-1796), on September 30, 1785. They had five children. While all held prestigious positions, three of them became sovereigns or imperials. Louis Charles Auguste (1786-1868) succeeded his father on the Bavarian throne. Auguste Amélie de Bavière married Eugène de Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, duke of Leuchtenberg and prince of Eichstätt. Their descendants would in turn play a major role in the history of European monarchies. Caroline-Augusta (1792-1873) became Empress of Austria when she married Emperor Franz I (1768-1835). After the premature death of his wife, who died at the age of 30 in 1796, Maximilian Joseph remarried Princess Caroline of Baden in Karlsruhe on March 9, 1797. This second union produced eight children. The three eldest daughters became Queens of Prussia and Saxony. The fourth, Sophie (1805-1872), Archduchess of Austria, was the mother of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. Ludovica (1808-1892), the couple's seventh child, was the mother of Élisabeth Amélie Eugénie de Bavière (1837-1898), Empress of Austria, better known as Sissi. Caroline of Baden was thus the grandmother of both Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Sissi, the emblematic figure of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The royal couple of Bavaria are thus at the source of a vast dynastic network that spans the whole of Europe. Through their children and grandchildren, they created the ruling families of Italy, Prussia, Bavaria, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden, illustrating the exceptional influence of the House of Wittelsbach in the 19th century.
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