I have been interested in collecting antiques my entire life, but it was not until I graduated from college and was earning a decent salary that I was able to afford to indulge in such predilections. One of the first antiques that I bought of any consequence was a miniature painting on ivory, dating from the 1830s and purported to be of the Empress Maria Anna of Austria.
 |
Kaiserin Mariane von Oesterreich, ca. 1830s
School of (?) Moritz Michael Daffinger |
I found the little painting almost thirty years ago while browsing in an antiques shop in suburban Washington, D.C., where I was looking for a wedding present for one of my college roommates. I thought the picture was appealling, and its subject was pretty, and the price was right. So I bought it.
 |
The reverse of the miniature, showing
pencil inscription in German |
The painting, in an ivory frame measuring 4 ½ by 5 ½ inches, depicts a young lady wearing a rose colored dress, an embroidered shawl, and a pretty bonnet decorated with flowers and lace typical of the 1830s. It is signed "m. Daffinger." On the reverse of the frame, written in pencil, is "Kaiserin Mariane v. Oesterreich."
 |
Maria Anna, Empress and Archduchess consort of Austria
Queen consort of Hungary, Bohemia,
Lombardia and Venetia, ca. 1830s
by Johann Nepomuk Ender (1793-1854)
Collection Museo di Roma |
Up until now I've never bothered to do any research on my little portrait. I've always assumed it was a nice piece of tourist or commemorative art, depicting a young Queen of Austria.
When it came time for me to write this essay, however, I decided to see if I could find anything out about my picture. After spending several hours browsing around the Internet, I learned rather a lot. The painting is very probably of the young Empress Maria Anna (or Mariane) of Austria (1803-1884) and was possibly painted by an Austrian miniaturist named Moritz Michael Daffinger (1790-1849).
 |
Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia and Family, ca. 1815
by Luigi Bernero (1775-1848)
Collection Royal Castle of Recconigi
Piedmont, Italy
|
Maria Anna Ricarda Carlotta Margherita Pia of Savoy, the likely subject of my miniature, was Empress and Archduchess consort of Austria, and Queen consort of Hungary, Bohemia, Lombardia, and Venetia. She was born in 1803 in Rome and was the daughter of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia (1759-1824) and the Archduchess Maria-Teresa of Austria-Este (1773-1832).
 |
The hapless Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria
in ceremonial robes of the
Order of the Golden Fleece, 1847
by Leopold Kupelwieser (1796-1892)
Collection Schönbrunn Palace
Vienna, Austria |
In 1831 Maria Anna married King Ferdinand V of Hungary (1793-1875), who later became Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria. Ferdinand was apparently severely epileptic, subject to as many as
twenty fits a day, and was widely considered to be rather dim-witted. Nonetheless, he ruled Austria as Emperor from 1836 until his forced abdication in 1848, when he was succeeded by his far more capable and far longer reigning nephew Franz Joseph (1830-1916). Although Maria Anna and Ferdinand were supposedly devoted to each other, it is thought that Ferdinand was incapable of consummating their marriage, and no little princes or princesses were produced from their union.
 |
A close-up of the painting |
I suspect my miniature of the Empress was painted around the time of Ferdinand's ascension to the throne of Austria in 1836.
After Ferdinand's abdication, the royal couple remained in Austria until Ferdinand's death in 1875. Maria Anna died in Prague in 1884 and is buried in Vienna, next to her husband.
|
Detail of the signature of m. Daffinger |
Moritz Michael Daffinger (1790-1849), whose signature appears on my little portrait of Maria Anna, was an Austrian miniature painter and sculptor and is considered by those in the know to have been the leading miniaturist of the Biedermeier period. According to what I've read, Daffinger was influenced by the English painter Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), with whom he studied during Lawrence's visit to Vienna in 1815. Daffinger is known to have produced more than a thousand portraits, mostly miniatures, of members of the Austrian aristocracy.
|
A pre-Euro Austrian 20 schilling note
featuring Moritz Michael Daffinger |
Revered in his native Austria, Daffinger's likeness appeared on the obverse of the Austrian twenty schilling banknote that circulated until the introduction of the Euro. He also appeared on a stamp.
|
An Austrian stamp
featuring Moritz Michael Daffinger |
In searching through images of Daffinger's work, I am not absolutely convinced that my little portrait was actually painted by him, even though it bears his signature. I don't rule it out that he might have painted it, but—even though my miniature of the Empress is very skillfully painted—it isn't as technically refined as many of the works of Daffinger that I came across when researching this essay.
|
Countess Ferdinandine Karolyi,
née Princesse Kaunitz-Rietberg, ca. 1830
by Moritz Michael Daffinger
location unknown |
It is possible that my miniature was painted by Daffinger. It could also have been painted by a student of his, and he signed it. It could also be a copy by someone of a miniature of the Empress that Daffinger painted. It could even be an outright forgery. I'd have to show it to an expert who is knowledgeable of Daffinger's work in order to determine whether or not he painted it.
 |
Leutnant Botha, ca. 1830s
by Moritz Michael Daffinger
location unknown |
Regardless of whether Herr Daffinger actually painted my little portrait or not, it is exceedingly well and finely painted, and I'm very happy to have it. I appreciate it both for its prettiness and also because of my sentimental attachment to it as one of the first antiques I bought, many years ago.
 |
An Austrian artillery officer
by Moritz Michael Daffinger
Collection of Elle Shushan |
At least several dozen miniatures and little paintings by Daffinger have sold at auction in recent years, most of them in Europe but also some here in America, too. Hammer prices realized range from a low of $750 to as much as $50,000, depending on the picture's quality, attribution, and subject matter.
 |
Princess Melanie Metternich, ca. 1830s
by Moritz Michael Daffinger
sold at Christie's in 2007 |
Tell me, do you think my little portrait of the Empress Maria Anna was likely painted by Daffinger?
Photographs of Reggie's miniature by Boy Fenwick