Ancient Portrait Of Maria Teresa Of Austria From 1700

Description:
Oil painting on canvas
Canvas measures 118 x 88.5
Coeval frame
Old refurbish.
Portrait of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (Vienna 1717 – Vienna 1780)
Circle of Martin Van Meytens, 18th century

The painting inserted in a coeval gilded frame, depicting the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in middle age, follows the canons of official portraits. It represents the majesty of the monarch, with radiant energy and strong personality, general posture and gesticulation. Represented in three-quarter length, she wears an elegant blue dress, decorated with white lace on the sleeves and with a generous neckline that uncovers her shoulders and in the center of which is decorated with precious stones, the same finish is also found in the diadem that embellishes the hairstyle eighteenth-century collection that lets the big curls descend to the side of the neck, a legacy of the enormous wigs of the seventeenth century.
The clothes of the time with hoops below the waist did not allow the hands to run freely, giving dynamism to the image.
Her lefthand rests on a crown, an ancestral emblem of power and sovereignty, and an exquisite golden artifact embellished with priceless gems. Its natural completion is the scepter, which refers to the stick of command.
Her right hand holds the golden and ermine-trimmed cloak.
The dark background behind with curtain drapery does not disturb the attention of the monarch in the foreground.
Maria Theresa Archduchess regnant of Austria, queen apostolic of Hungary, queen regnant of Bohemia and of Croatia and Slavonia, duchess regnant of Parma and Piacenza, duchess regnant of Milan and Mantua and also grand duchess consort of Tuscany and empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire as wife of Francesco I, former Duke of Lorraine under the name of Francesco III Stefano.
the authority and authority of one of the best-known queens in European history, whose government is remembered as a period full of economic and social reforms, as well as great cultural development throughout the empire, destined to mark a whole era of European history.
 
The birth of the Habsburgs of Austria and the problems of succession

The rules of succession of the Austrian branch of the oldest and most famous European dynasty, the Habsburgs, provided that descent occurred only through the male line of succession, as required by the ancient code of the "Salic law".

To guarantee the succession to his children, even in the absence of a male heir, in 1713 Charles VI of Habsburg had an important decree drawn up, known as the Pragmatic Sanction, with which he established his line of descent even in the case of a female heir.

Given the lack of male heirs, by virtue of the Pragmatic Sanction, Maria Theresa of Austria will inherit the throne of her father upon her death.
  The accession of Maria Theresa of Austria and the War of the Austrian Succession.

Born in 1717, Maria Theresa grew up in the Austrian court receiving the typical education intended for women, which did not include political teachings.

In 1736 Maria Teresa married, for political reasons, Francesco di Lorena, to whom however she will bond sincerely and passionately.

In 1740, however, his father Charles VI died suddenly: it was therefore up to Maria Teresa to inherit the throne.

The accession of a woman to the Habsburg throne is read by many enemies of Austria as an opportunity to be exploited to expand. Thus began a long war, known as the "Austrian Succession", in which the young sovereign had to defend her right to govern.

After eight years of war, with the Peace of Aquisgrana of 1748, in exchange for some territorial transfers, Maria Theresa of Austria was legitimately recognized by the other European sovereigns.
 
Maria Theresa of Austria and the reforms of the Austrian Empire

Maria Theresa of Austria will also become famous for the numerous reforms undertaken during her reign, with the aim of making Austria a modern and avant-garde state despite her conservative ideas.

The political model of the sovereign, or Absolutism, provided for a strong control of the sovereign and the State to the detriment of the privileges of the clergy and nobility.

One of your first fields of intervention will be precisely the administrative and fiscal one, with a more efficient and fair taxation and administration reform. Thanks to these reforms, an imperial bureaucracy loyal to the sovereign developed.

The other field of intervention will be the educational one: a decree of the sovereign of 1776 sanctioned for the first time in history the compulsory nature of education from 6 to 12 years.

Maria Theresa of Austria finally dies in 1780. Her important reform work will be carried out by her son and heir Joseph II.

THE WORK WILL BE SHIPPED IN A WOODEN CASE AND WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY