Lot 179: Anton von Maron (Vienna 1733-1808 Rome)

Anton von Maron (Vienna 1733-1808 Rome) Portrait of Prince William Henry (1743-1805), 1st Duke of Gloucester, half-length, in military dress, his right hand resting on a jousting helmet oil on canvas 34 x 27 ¼ in. (86.4 x 69.2 cm.)

86.4 x 69.2 cm.

(Probably) J. Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, New Haven and London, 1997, p. 403. A. Cesareo, '"The call him Ilustrissimus and kiss his hand..." Su un Ritratto inedito di William Henry duca di Gloucester ed Edimburgo', in Studi sul Settecento Romano, Palazzi, chiese, arredi e scultura, I, Rome, 2011, p. 305, fig. 3. I. Schmittmann, Anton von Maron (1731-1808), Leben und Werk, Munich, 2013, pp. 413-15, no. UBG4, fig. 152.

Anonymous sale; Dorotheum, Vienna, 21 April 2010, lot 31, where acquired by the present owner.

Prince William Henry, 1st Duke of Gloucester, made at least two trips to Italy where he visited the studios of both Pompeo Batoni and Anton von Maron in Rome. This portrait would appear to date to Gloucester's first Italian sojourn, after his arrival in Rome in December 1771 and before his departure for England in May of the following year.