Countess Kunigunde von Stadion-Thannhausen

Anreiter portrayed the widowed Kunigunde von Stadion-Thannhausen (1794–1872) against a plain brown background that lightens towards the centre.¹ She is sitting on a chair upholstered in red velvet. The colour of the chair’s backrest, just visible at the edge of the picture, blends so closely with the background that the observer’s attention is drawn to the sitter’s pale complexion and décolletage. A translucent black wrap made of gauze emphasises the shoulder area.
Kunigunde’s husband, Count Johann von Stadion-Thannhausen (1780–1839), had passed away eleven years prior to the creation of the miniature. It is possible that the picture was intended to attract a potential new suitor as the widow appears significantly younger than her 56 years of age.
Kunigunde was the daughter of Franz Karl von Kesselstatt (1756–1829), who died in Vienna, and his wife, Therese Franziska Philippa Walpurga (1763–1805), who also came from the aristocratic Swabian family of Stadion-Thannhausen.
J. S. O.