Johann Gottfried Auerbach

JOHANN GOTTFRIED AUERBACH (Austria, 1697 - 1753).
"Charles VI".
Miniature.
Presents inscription and informative label on the back.
Signed in the middle right area.
Measurements. 10 x 8 cm; 16 x 13 cm (frame).

Miniature with the portrait of Charles VI, conceived in reduced format and executed with great delicacy. The monarch appears of bust, richly attired, with attention to the detail in the clothes and ornaments that emphasize his rank. The face, meticulously worked, stands out for the softness of the modeling and the intensity of the gaze, qualities typical of miniature portraiture, intended both for commemoration and for the intimate and personal sphere. The work combines technical refinement and symbolic value, preserving the memory of the sovereign in a portable object with a strong representative charge.
A portrait painter and engraver, Auerbach settled in Vienna and soon acquired a great reputation as a portrait painter. He was appointed court painter by Emperor Charles VI, and Empress Maria Theresa retained this title for him. In the Belvedere Gallery, you can see the portrait of Charles VI. He painted the head of this sovereign, as well as that of the Count of Althan, in 1728, in the great painting of Solimène, in the same Museum, a painting representing the Emperor receiving from the Count the inventory of the collection of paintings. The church of St. Joseph has two side altars painted by him.