A superb portrait of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi) by the renowned Viennese portrait painter Georg Martin Ignaz Raab (1821-1885),  painted circa 1875/80. Depiction of the Empress with emerald jewelry set.

A comparable portrait of the Empress by Raab from 1874 is located in the Belvedere Palace in Vienna (inventory no. 8841).

This image ( as a pair to the portrait of Emperor Franz Joseph, our Item No.7594) commemorates the historic coronation of Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth (Sisi) on June 8, 1867, in Budapest, which sealed the Austro-Hungarian Compromise.

The author of this extremely rare portrait Georg Martin Ignaz Raab was the son  of a court paymaster; studied 1833–37 at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, among others under Kupelwieser; he distinguished himself as a particularly skilled portrait painter in both watercolor and oil painting as well as in the field of lithography and soon specialized in ivory miniatures. 

Works: Infant, c. 1850; Archduke Rudolf in a Pillow, c. 1859; Archduke Rudolf as an Infant, 1860; Archduchess, 1860; Archduchess Gisela, c. 1867 (all in the Albertina Graphic Collection, Vienna); F. von Pirquet, 1865 (private collection, Vienna); Princess Elisabeth, 1873, 1879; Emperor Franz Joseph, 1875; etc.

Literature: Bénézit; Seubert; Thieme-Becker; Wurzbach; F. v. Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jh. 2/1, 1898; L. R. Schidlof, The Miniature in Europe . . . 2, 1964 (with catalogue raisonné); H. Fuchs, Die Österr. Maler des 19. Jh. 3, 1973; H. Schöny, Wr. Künstler-Ahnen 2, 1975, p. 30; N. Keil, Die Miniaturen der Albertina in Wien, 1977, pp. 128

Provenance: from an Austrian baronial estate.

Inscription: signed lower left.

Technique: oil on canvas, magnificent original period gilt frame.

Measurements: unframed w 23 5/8" x h 29 1/8"(60 x 74 cm), framed 34 1/4" x 39" (87 x 99 cm).

Condition: very good, original canvas.