Tu, Felix Austria, nube! study

Václav Brožík

Václav Brožík - Tu, Felix Austria, nube! study
One of many preparatory studies for the more thanseven-metre-long painting commissioned by emperor Franz Joseph I for the fiftieth anniversary of his reign in 1898. The subject, taken from Palacký, was chosen by the historian W.W.Tomek to demonstrate Austria’s peaceful policy that relied primarily on marriage bonds to preserve the position of a great power and tended to leave wars to others. The title of the picture is taken from the hexametre Bella gerant alii et tu, felix Austria, nube! (Others wage wars and you, happy Austria, betroth!) The picture shows the happy betrothal of ten-year-old Louis (Ludvík) Jagiello, son of the Czech king Ladislaus (Vladislav) Jagiello, to a slightly older Maria Habsburg, daughter of the Spanish king Philip „the Handsome“ and grand-daughter of Emperor Maximilian I. The betrothal was officiated by the Hungarian cardinal Ladislav Bakácz of Erdöd at St Stephen’s cathedral in Vienna. Among the many historic personalities are representatives of all the nations of the emerging Habsburg empire. Brožík completed the final painting in 1897 and was then raised to the peerage. The large canvas is now at the Austrian National Gallery in Vienna.
date:
measurements: height 92 cm
width 142 cm
material: canvas
technique: oil
inscription:
inventory number: O 4652
gallery collection: Collection of 19th Century Art and Classical Modernism

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