1814
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Portrait of a Man, possibly Alexander I, Emperor of Russia is a 1814 unspecified by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man in a dark military coat looks straight at you. Gold buttons shine, and his hair is neatly curled. The face is small—about the size of a playing card. This tiny portrait was painted in 1814, when Europe’s leaders met in Vienna to redraw borders after Napoleon’s wars. The artist, Isabey, was there too, sketching diplomats between fancy dinners. Miniatures like this were pocket-sized gifts for friends or lovers. Look up other works from the Congress of Vienna to see how art and politics mixed back then.
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…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French pronunciation: ; 11 April 1767 – 18 April 1855) was a French artist during both the First Empire and the Restoration.
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