The Portrait of Ladislaus von Fraunberg, Count of Haag (1505–1566) by Hans Mielich is an example of the new type of full-length ruler portrait that much more clearly fulfils representative functions. In his portraits of Duke Heinrich the Pious and his wife Katharina von Mecklenburg (dated 1514, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden), Lucas Cranach the Elder had created the first life-size, full-length portraits. With his Portrait of Emperor Karl V (dated 1532, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), Jakob Seisenegger (1505–1557) established an exemplary form of painting for representative purposes that would influence later generations.
Mielich’s painting probably came into the possession of the princely family in 1568 on the occasion of the marriage of the sitter’s niece to Hartmann II von Liechtenstein. An inventory of 1613 proves that this is the painting held longest in the Princely Collections. Selfgoverning under the Kaiser, Haag ruled the county of Haag in Upper Bavaria near Wasserburg, and was the last of his line. Shortly before the portrait was painted, Fraunberg had married the niece of Duke Ercole d’Este, Emilia Rovella di Pio, in Ferrara. Yet his motherin- law had her daughter abducted to a nunnery and hired poisoners and murderers to try to kill the count for so long that he finally returned home without his bride in 1556. The next ten years until his death were marked by Ladislaus’s hapless attempts to arrange another marriage to prevent the extinction of his line. After his death, the county of Fraunberg fell to his adversary, Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria. In the year the picture was painted, Albrecht V had the count illegally abducted and extorted a substantial ransom from him. His self-confident portrait, comparable to those of the greatest rulers of his day, expresses Ladislaus’s pride and steadfastness.
With great authenticity, Hans Mielich successfully captures his subject’s aggressive nature and tragic fate. The count is presented wearing lavish Spanish clothes, his hand on his dagger as a sign of his ability to put up a fight. An exotic attribute symbolizing distinction and wealth, the leopard at his side is a reference to his Italian adventures and was a present from his brother-in-law. The painting is richly symbolic. Snow-covered Haag castle, its coat of arms featured prominently above it, is seen through the window. The helmet and shield, sword and coat of mail indicate Fraunberg’s military achievements, although they are located in close proximity to symbols of mortality such as an hourglass and a skull. The large number of these elements and the wealth of detail that accords them equal status with the figure lend the composition an ornamental character that prevents the viewer from actively making connections between the sitter and his surroundings. |
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Hans Mielich
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| Portrait of Ladislaus von Fraunberg, Count of Haag, 1557 |
Oil on canvas
height 214 cm, width 113 cm
Dated and signed on the wooden cornice: ANNO DN M.D.LVII. HANNS MIELICH A MONAC. FECIT
Inscription on the arms pane: CVM LABORE ET DEO IVVANTE LADISLAVS GRAFFE ZV HAG
Inscription on the panther`s collar: LS
Inv.-No. GE1065
Provenance: after 1557 or 1566 in the possession of Ladislaus von Fraunberg’s sister, Maximiliane, Countess of Ortenburg, whose daughter Countess Anna Maria of Ortenburg married Hartmann II von Liechtenstein in 1568, bringing the picture into the Princely Collections
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