18 - Conrad GEIGER (1751–1808), attributed to.

Conrad GEIGER (1751–1808), attributed to. Portrait of Maximilian I Joseph (1756–1825), first King of Bavaria. Oil on canvas. Circa 1807. H. 74 x W. 60 cm. Frame: H. 85 x W. 71 cm. Provenance French private collection. History In 1799, Maximilian Joseph of Wittelsbach inherited the Electorate of Bavaria and ascended to the throne as Maximilian IV Joseph. Closely aligned with France, he provided political and military support to Napoleon, particularly during the campaign of 1805. In recognition of his loyalty, the Emperor elevated Bavaria to the status of a kingdom, proclaimed on January 1, 1806, and Maximilian thus became the first king of this new state. To seal his alliance with France, he agreed to break off the engagement of his eldest daughter, Augusta, to Crown Prince Charles of Baden, so that she might marry Eugène de Beauharnais, the adopted son of the Emperor of the French. Painted around 1807, our two portraits of the king and queen were likely part of a series of official portraits intended to establish the legitimacy of the new Bavarian dynasty. The portrait of Maximilian Joseph is a bust version of his official portrait, now housed at the Bavarian Army Museum (Bayerisches Armeemuseum, ill. 1). This painting, created around 1806, laid the foundations for the new royal iconography. It was in this context that Conrad Geiger—famous for his portraits of dignitaries since the late 18th century and in the service of Maximilian since 1803—was commissioned to portray the new sovereigns. Encouraged by the royal couple, other painters put their talents at the service of the House of Bavaria. Following in Geiger’s footsteps, Joseph Stieler contributed significantly to the dissemination of the official image of the Bavarian sovereigns and their descendants. As court painter to Bavaria from 1820 onward, he painted portraits of all members of the royal family (ill. 2 and 3). This tradition was later carried on by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Trained in Munich, notably under Stieler, he perpetuated the art of court portraiture by depicting the descendants of Maximilian Joseph and Caroline, who were destined to reign or marry into Europe’s leading dynasties. Through his two marriages, Maximilian Joseph left a lasting mark on the history of Europe’s greatest courts. He married Princess Augusta-Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt (1765–1796) on September 30, 1785. Five children were born of this union, three of whom ascended to sovereign or imperial positions. Louis (1786–1868) succeeded his father to the throne of Bavaria as Louis I. Augusta-Amélie (1788–1851) married Eugène de Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy, the future Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstätt; their descendants, in turn, would play a major role in the history of European monarchies. As for Caroline-Augusta (1792–1873), she became Empress of Austria upon her marriage in 1816 to Emperor Francis I (1768–1835). After the death of his first wife in 1796, Maximilian Joseph remarried on March 9, 1797, in Karlsruhe to Princess Caroline of Baden. Eight children were born from this second marriage. The three eldest daughters became queens of Prussia and Saxony. The fourth, Sophie (1805–1872), who became Archduchess of Austria through her marriage to Archduke Francis Charles, was the mother of Francis Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. Ludovica (1808–1892), the couple’s seventh child, was the mother of Elisabeth Amélie Eugénie of Bavaria (1837–1898), Empress of Austria, better known as Sissi. Caroline of Baden was thus the grandmother of both Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Sissi, an iconic figure of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy (ill. 4). Maximilian Joseph is thus at the center of a vast dynastic network that extends throughout Europe. Through his children and grandchildren, his lineage became intertwined with the ruling families of Bavaria, Austria-Hungary, Saxony, Greece, Sweden and Norway, Portugal, and Brazil, illustrating the exceptional influence of the House of Wittelsbach in the 19th century.