This half-length portrait depicts the Austrian statesman Count Johann Philipp Cobenzl facing the viewer and gesturing with his right hand, as if in conversation with a counterpart. He is shown in front of a softly falling, velvety green drapery, which provides only a narrow view of the grey-green wall behind it. The sitter presents himself with a powdered wig and in sumptuous clothing: He wears a purple velvet jacket above a lace shirt and above it a bright red collar. Special care has been taken in the reproduction of the badges of the orders with which the sitter is decorated. The most important is the Order of the Golden Fleece, which Cobenzl received in 1792 and which he wears here suspended from its characteristic collar. Beneath it is the insignia of the Leopold Order, which was only founded by Emperor Franz I in 1808. The red ribbon on his shoulder and the upper of the two badges, a red-enamelled eight pointed star with the motto “Integritati et Merito”, also belong to this order. The star with the "Grand Aigle" below it indicates membership to the Legion of Honour, which was founded in 1802 upon the proposal of Napoléon Bonaparte, the First Consul of the French Republic, and for which Napoleon, as Emperor, donated appropriate insignia two years later. Johann Philipp Count Cobenzl (1741-1810) had a varied career at the Habsburg imperial court. From 1779 to 1792 he served as Austrian Vice-Chancellor, then for almost a year as Foreign Minister. As Austrian envoy, Count Cobenzl was active in Paris from 1801 to 1805, that is, at the time of Napoleon's rise as emperor, which may explain his acceptance into the Legion of Honour. Johann Baptist Lampi was one of the most successful portrait painters of the Central and Eastern European nobility in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Born in South Tyrol, the artist first worked for over two decades in numerous different cities, including Vienna, Salzburg, Verona and Warsaw. This was followed by a five-year stay in St. Petersburg as court painter to the Russian Tzarina Catherine II, after which he finally settled in Vienna in 1797 and remained there for the rest of his life. "Upon his return to Austria, Lampi brought with him honours and tributes that few other artists in Europe could boast of" (Roberto Pancheri: Johann Baptist Lampi d. Ä. und die Porträtmalerei in Wien zwischen Ancien Régime und Vormärz, in : Exhib. cat. "Europa in Wien. Der Wiener Kongress 1814/15", Vienna, Belvedere 2015, p. 156-65, here p. 157). It was in Vienna, where Lampi portrayed the Emperor and other members of the imperial family, that our impressive portrait was probably made. We are grateful to Dr. Roberto Pancheri, Trento, for confirming the attribution on the basis of digital photographs. Dimensions 83.5 x 65.5 cm Artist or Maker Johann Baptist Lampi Medium Oil on canvas (relined) Notes VAT: Margin scheme