Pro Deo et Populo: Die Porträts Josephs II. (1765 – 1790)

The portraits of the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II (1765-1790) provide
a good opportunity for a study of imperial portraiture in the Age
of the Enlightenment. As a sitter of the highest rank in
Eighteenth-Century Europe, Joseph was known to hold enlightened
ideas on sovereignty, and his portraits - emerging on the eve of
the French Revolution - mark a point at which leaders were forced
to re-evaluate their understanding of authority. The widely popular
medium of portraiture in the second half of the Eighteenth Century
proved to be particularly responsive to these developments. This
dissertation traces how the visual representation of Joseph II
adapted to the paradigm shifts of the age, and begins by presenting
and categorizing the different types of his portrait versions. Then
it draws upon written sources from court archives to examine the
contexts in which portraits were produced, displayed and
distributed. Finally, I set out the distinct iconographic changes
discernible in the portraits of Joseph II and their importance for
Nineteenth-Century portraiture. It will be suggested that these
portraits depart from the norms of Baroque iconography in favour of
a more reduced form, in which the Emperor is characterized by
bourgeois values such as a strong work ethic, a sense of duty and
the popular touch in order to legitimate his sovereignty.