19th CenturyAntique PrintsAustrianHistoric PersonalitiesNapoleonicaPortraits

Metternich – Portrait of the Austrian diplomat and leader of the Congress of Vienna

Clément Venceslas Lothaire, Prince de Metternich-Winnebourg — engraved portrait, Artaria & Comp., Vienna, c. 1830s–1840s

Three-quarter bust of the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince von Metternich (1773–1859). Metternich served as Austria’s Foreign Minister from 1809 and State Chancellor from 1821, shaping the post-Napoleonic settlement and the balance-of-power diplomacy associated with the Congress of Vienna. This steelplate engraved portrait shows him in formal civilian dress with high cravat and decorations, set before a draped curtain. The image is surrounded by a distinctive engine-turned line or guilloché border, typical of high-quality 19th-century steel engravings published by Artaria & Comp. in Vienna. The small French-language legal notices in the margin indicate publisher’s ownership and deposit with the Imperial-Royal library.

Texts below image:
Molteni pinx.
Staub del.
Benedetti sculp.
Clément Venceslas Lothaire
PRINCE DE METTERNICH-WINNEBOURG
Chancelier de Cour et d’État de S. M. I. et R. A.
Directeur de l’Académie des beaux-arts, etc. etc.
Vienne chez Artaria & Comp.
Deposé à la Biblioth. I.R.
Proprieté des Editeurs

Notes on the credits (for your listing, optional):

  • Molteni pinx. = painted by Molteni (very likely the Milanese portraitist Giuseppe Molteni, 1800–1867).

  • Staub del. = drawn by Staub (artist who prepared the drawing for engraving; full identity not confirmed from the plate).

  • Benedetti sculp. = engraved by Benedetti (engraver’s surname as given; first name not stated on this impression).

  • Vienne chez Artaria & Comp. = published in Vienna by Artaria & Company.

  • Deposé à la Biblioth. I.R. / Proprieté des Editeurs = deposit notice with the Imperial-Royal Library and publisher’s property statement.

Condition: Some clear clean central print.  Foxing in the margins as shown in full sheet below.