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Portrait of a Man, possibly Alexander I, Emperor of Russia
Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French, 1767–1855)
1814
- Medium
- watercolor on paper in a gilt metal mount and burr wood frame
- Classification
- Portrait Miniature
- Dimensions
- Framed: 23 x 17.7 cm (9 1/16 x 6 15/16 in.); Unframed: 13.8 x 10.3 cm (5 7/16 x 4 1/16 in.)
- Culture
- France
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- The Edward B. Greene Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This portrait miniature is believed to be Alexander I, emperor of Russia, painted during the Congress of Vienna, convened between September 1814 and June 1815 to establish the terms of peace in Europe following the Napoleonic Wars. Singers, actors, and artists flocked to entertain the delegates when they were not engaged in negotiations. Among these was French miniature painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey. He had been patronized by Marie Antoinette and the Bonaparte family but managed to retain a client base when the Bourbon kings were reinstalled. Isabey established a studio in Vienna and painted portraits and miniatures documenting the congress's delegates and attendees; he was so popular that carriages lined the street in front of his studio, which became a popular place to see the elite. Isabey signed many of his works from the congress "Isabey à Vienne," indicating that he understood the historical significance of the event. This portrait is inscribed in this way.v Emperor Alexander I did not participate directly as a delegate but was present in Vienna to ensure that his political interests were defended. Despite the lack of identifying medals, this portrait closely resembles other…
