A masterful oil portrait of a young highly noble woman in Empire dress and red stole with the sky in the background.

The sitter : Ms. Louise Hoessner (1792-1869), chamber maid by Duchess (Erzherzogin) Rainer (described on a old label in german on the reverse).

The author of this rare portrait - one of the best Viennese miniaturists of the turn of the 19th century, Emile Bernhard de Guerard (1780 Duesseldorf - 1836 Naples). He studied first jurisprudence at the Duisburg University but soon turned to visual arts, especially to portrait miniatures. In 1793 he went to Vienna, where he was entrusted with commissions from Viennese court and aristocracy. In 1817-19 Guerard worked for the family of Prince Schwarzenberg. In his last years he was permanently on travels: in 1827 he lived in Venice, in 1831 exhibited in Rome and five years later lived in Naples, where he became victim of cholera, that was prevailing in the town.

Inscription: on the edge to frame and dated 1828

Technique: oil on wood, original period frame

Measurements: Oval image w 6" x 7 1/2" (15 x 19 cm), framed w 10 1/8" x h 11 3/4" (26 x 30 cm)

Condition: in very good condition