Francis I Stephen, Holy Roman Emperor

A miniaturist of Bencini’s circle portrayed Francis I Stephen (1708-1765) in a breastplate and a red cloak trimmed with golden braids. He wears the Order of the Golden Fleece on a red ribbon around his neck. His physiognomy corresponds to Liotard’s pastel portrayal of 1744.¹ But his garments, wig and background show distinctive differences. Following the French portrait examples of Rigaud and Largillière, the miniaturist relaxed the portrait’s stiff dignity by representing the monarch in the open air. The representation, painted in a horizontal oval, seemed to have originally decorated a box which, as a royal gift, was intended as a reminder of solidarity with the ruler portrayed.
After the death of his elder brother Clemens, Francis I Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, was designated to marry Maria Theresia. The marriage took place in 1736. In the same year he was forced to relinquish the Dukedom of Lorraine which he had governed since 1729 and which was now claimed by France. He was compensated, however, with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Although elected Emperor in 1745, he remained politically in his wife’s shadow for his entire life. In 1763 he took over the consolidation of public finances, a task in which he displayed great aptitude.
B. P.