Archduchess Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen, (1742-1798)

Archduchess Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen from 1776 by Johann Zoffany depicts one of the favorite daughters of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Maria Christina was an unusually well-documented Habsburg princess—she kept a detailed diary, was an accomplished artist herself, and was one of the few children Maria Theresa allowed to marry for love. Zoffany's commission for this Habsburg portrait reflects his remarkable international career trajectory: beginning in Germany and Italy, becoming the leading conversation-piece painter in London, and ultimately receiving commissions from the highest European royalty. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, which holds this work, was later built to house the imperial collections that the Habsburgs had assembled over centuries. The portrait demonstrates Zoffany's ability to adapt his naturalistic English manner to the formal requirements of Continental court portraiture.

The royal portrait combines the formal requirements of Habsburg court portraiture with Zoffany's naturalistic approach, rendering the archduchess with both regal dignity and individual character.