Bust of Francis III of Lorraine (1708-65): EC.4-1946

Titles

Bust of Francis III of Lorraine (1708-65)

Maker(s)

Factory: Imperial Porcelain Factory
Modeller: Niedermayer, Joseph (Probably)

Entities

• Bust

Categories

• Hard-paste porcelain

Description

Glazed hard-paste porcelain bust of Francis III of Lorraine wearing a laurel wreath, a neo-Roman breastplate, and a drape

Glazed hard-paste porcelain.. The bust is attached to a circular socle. The sitter faces front, his head turned a quarter to his left. His hair falls down his back in curls with one tress over his right shoulder. He wears a laurel wreath, a neo-Roman scaled breastplate with a mask on the front, and a drape over his left shoulder which passes across his body and under the right arm.

Notes

History note: H.E. Backer, 1 Elm Tree Road, St John's Wood, London NW8 from whom purchased for £18 by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Legal notes

Given by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Place(s) associated

• Vienna ⪼ Austria

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1946-04) by The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Dating

18th Century, third quarter#
Circa 1755 CE - 1760 CE

Note

Francis III of Lorraine (1708-65) married the Empress Maria Theresa in 1736, but did not acquire the title of Emperor Francis I until 1745. The bust was probably modelled by Joseph Niedermayer (chief modeller 1747-his death in 1784). The bust shows the Emperor looking much younger than he was when it was made.

School or Style

classicizing