DOROTHEUM: Sisi's Engagement Gift to the Emperor

This historic painting hung on the wall over Francis Joseph of Austria's bed until his death and was the property of the Habsburg estate for over 150 years. Then it vanished from the public eye. The portrait's value is estimated at €300,000-€350,000.

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/491088/Empress_Elisabeth_of_Austria.jpg )

The painting  

The painting depicts the then 15-year-old Bavarian duchess poised on horseback in front of Possenhofen Castle at Lake Starnberg. It hung on the wall over the Emperor's bed at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna for some 60 years, which only goes to show its immense significance. Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria, Elisabeth's father, commissioned two of the most distinguished artists of his time to create it: the genre painter Carl Theodor von Piloty and the equestrian portraitist Franz Adam. The Thurn and Taxis Collection houses a later version of the portrait, and a replica is now on display at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in the exact spot where the painting hung for so many years.

About Dorotheum  

Today, over 300 years after its founding by the House of Habsburg, Dorotheum is one of the world's leading auction houses and the largest of its kind in both central Europe and the German-speaking countries.

Link to the entry in the online catalog, which includes a downloadable image:

Carl Theodor von Piloty and Franz Adam (Munich 1826-1886 Ambach on Lake Starnberg) and (Milan 1815-1886 Munich) Empress Elisabeth of Austria as bride on horseback in Possenhofen 1853, signed, dated and inscribed, oil on canvas, 128 x 108 cm, estimate €300,000-€400,000

Free for use in reporting on auctions

Fotocredit: Dorotheum

Inquiries:
Doris Krumpl, Press Officer
doris.krumpl@dorotheum.at
Tel. +43-1-51560-406
http://www.dorotheum.com