Moritz Michael Daffinger

This artist was the son of the porcelain painter Johann Leopold Daffinger (also: Taffinger). After his father’s death, he was brought up by Philipp Krug, his father’s colleague in the Viennese porcelain manufactory. Daffinger was taken on as an apprentice in the manufactory in 1801. From 1801 to 1809 he was pupil of Hubert Maurer at the Vienna Academy, where he was twice awarded the Gundel prize for his works. From 1805 to 1809 he studied with Heinrich Friedrich Flüger. During the Vienna Congress he was already a much sought-after portrait painter. Thomas Lawrence, who since 1819 had stayed in Vienna for some time, influenced his major work. Daffinger was patronized by Prince Metternich and above all by his wife Melanie. For her and her friends he created more than 200 miniatures in watercolours. His other patrons belonged to the Austrian and international nobility. In 1836 he became a member of the Vienna Academy and in 1839 an honorary member of the Milan Academy. He had been such a significant miniaturist that he distinctly influenced most of his Austrian successors. His complete works consist of more than one thousand miniature portraits.