152 skill as seen in the cold, hard contours of the jewellery and the crisp folds of the dress. She cultivated a close personal relationship with the former empress and even encouraged her to dabble in pastel painting herself. Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg had married the future Emperor Joseph I in 1699 and became Empress of the Habsburg Empire upon his accession in 1705. In 1719, her first daughter Maria Josepha (see cat. 69) married Frederick Augustus of Saxony, who was to become Augustus III, King of Poland (see cat. 131), thereby consolidating the political connection between Austria and Saxony. Wilhelmine Amalie was the sister-in-law of Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the mother of Maria Theresa. The picture was produced during Carriera’s stay in Vienna in 1730, during which she also portrayed other members of the Habsburg family (see cat. 67 and p. 240, gal. no. P 19). RE Literature: Riedel, Wenzel 1765, p. 239; Woermann 1887, p. 762; Sani 1988, p. 310, no. 259; Henning, Marx 2007, pp. 68–72; Sani 2007, pp. 264–266, no. 289; Henning 2009, p. 297, I–11; Penz 2017; Jeffares online edition, J.21.0208. · 69 · Rosalba Carriera Maria Josepha, Wife of King Augustus III of Poland 1730(?) Pastel on paper, 53.5 × 42.5 cm Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, gal. no. P 5 Possibly acquired from estate of Empress Wilhelmine Amalie in 1742 Fixed to backing board: Three Kings token (type 1bw t) Carriera presents Maria Josepha, daughter of Emperor Joseph I and his wife Wilhelmine Amalie (cat. 68), dressed in a silver dress with a loosely draped white ermine collar and set against a dark background. Opulent jewels set with diamonds and pearls adorn her hair and gown. The radiant white of the dress and the snowy pallor of her powdered hair and décolleté are softened by the sitter’s steel-blue eyes, delicate blush, and rosy lips. That Maria Josepha was no great beauty is borne out by later portraits, for example by Louis de Silvestre or Anton Raphael Mengs, who did not tone down her protruding eyes and prominent nose. We do not know when Carriera painted this portrait of the archduchess; the working assumption is that it was made during her stay in Vienna in 1730. However, Maria Josepha’s idealised youthful appearance suggests that it could also have been painted in the runup to or immediate wake of her marriage to Frederick Augustus of Saxony. His father, the Saxon Elector Augustus the Strong, had long pursued this connection between the imperial House of Habsburg and the Electorate of Saxony. When it finally came to pass in 1719, Dresden exploded into a magnificent 40-day celebration of the nuptials. In light of the crown prince’s sincere admiration of Carriera’s work and the fact that he had made her acquaintance in Venice as early as 1712, his desire to have his wife portrayed by the artist would be understandable. RE Literature: Riedel, Wenzel 1765, p. 239; Sani 1988, p. 311, no. 266; Henning, Marx 2007, pp. 73–75; Sani 2007, pp. 270f., no. 298; Jeffares online edition, J.21.0745; cf. exh. cat. Bad Pistyan 1924, p. 11, no. 41; Schnitzer 2014, p. 51, 235, no. 7. · 69 ·
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