Natale Schiavoni-Attrib. "Officer of Austrian General-Quartiermeister-Stab ", Miniature, 1804/06

This miniature portrait depicts a young officer who served in 1804-1806 (according to his uniform) in the Austrian General-Quartiermeister-Stab (Generalstab). It shows all stylistic criteria of works of well-known Italian (then working in Vienna) painter and miniaturist Natale Shiavoni.

Natale Schiavoni (Schiavone) was born in 1777 in Chioggia by Venice and died in 1858 in Venice. His drawings drew attention already at an early stage of his career. For instance, as early as 1788-97 he illustrated the book "Descrizione dei Crostacei" of Stefano Chiereghin. In Florence, he studied the art of engraving under Raphael Morghen. In 1792-1795, in Venice, he studied painting under Francesco Maggioto at the Academy of Fine Art. In 1797-1810, Schiavoni lived in Triest. In this period, he made ca. 600 miniatures(sic!); in 1810-1815 he lived in Milan, where he was a frequent guest at the court of Vice-Roi Eugene de Beauharnais. In the same period, in Milan, he was also a close friend of portrait painters Andrea Appiani and Giuseppe Bossi, who were also living there at the time. In other words, it was a very favorable environment for Natale Schiavoni to specialize in portraits of high-ranking officials, as well as officials of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy (with Milan as this state's capital).

Due to Schiavoni's successful completion of a portrait of Kaiser (Emperor) Franz II of Austria, he was invited by the latter in 1816 to Vienna. There, he repeatedly portrayed the Kaiser, yet also made portraits of various Viennese courtiers and important foreign persons on their visits to Vienna (among others, he produced a number of portraits of Russian aristocrats).

In 1821, Schiavoni returned to Venice and in 1824 opened an esteemed gallery of Venetian painting in Palazzo Giustinian, which he purchased shortly before that. He spent the years 1833-1839 in Vienna again. There, he took part in various academic exhibitions (1834, 1836, 1839). In those years, he portrayed Kaiser Ferdinand I and his wife Maria Anna. He also painted ca. 3000 (!) female half-length figures (an admirer of subjects dealing with Venus, Magdalena, Susanna and odalisques, Natale Schiavoni was referred to as "Pittore delle grazie" / "Painter of the Graces"). From 1840 he held a professorship at the Academy of Fine Art in Venice.

Condition: Good, in a newer frame.

Creation Year: 1804/06

Measurements: UNFRAMED: 4.8cm x 6.2cm /1.9in x 2.4in
FRAMED: 7.5cm x 6.3cm / 3.0in x 2.5in

Object Type: Framed painting

Technique: watercolor painting (octagonal)

Inscription: -


Keywords:
SCHIAVONI, NATALE; AUSTRIAN; MILITARY PORTRAIT; MILITARY; MALE PORTRAIT; YOUNG MAN; EMPIRE; YOUNG MAN; NAPOLEON

Good, in a newer frame.