4455

Queen Augusta Victoria of Portugal, née Princess Auguste Viktoria von Hohenzollern 1915

Seated three-quarter length to the left and looking to the right, on a high backed wooden armchair with carved finials, wearing a dark gown with a sash and grand cross star of the Order of Our Lady of Conception of Vila Viçosa,^[1] a coronet,^[2] drop earrings, a wide choker and two strings of pearls, a white lace stole across her lap, holding a closed fan in her left hand, her right hand raised, holding her pearls

Oil on canvas, 130 x 100 cm (51 ¼ x 39 ¼ in.)

Indistinctly inscribed upper left: P.A. de László / 1915.x. / London   

Laib L78850 (58) / C22 (16)  

NPG 1913-15, Album, p. 26

Sitters’ Book I, f. 98: Auguste Victoria R. / 3. VII. 914.

Sitters’ Book I, opp. f. 105: Auguste Victoria R. / 23. VII. 1915. 

Fürstlich Hohenzollernsche Sammlungen und Hofbibliothek, Sigmaringen, Germany

De László first became acquainted with Princess Auguste Viktoria von Hohenzollern in 1896, when she was six years old. In 1900 he painted her grandmother, Countess Mathilde of Trani, née Duchess in Bavaria [7363], and her mother Fürstin Maria Teresa von Hohenzollern, née Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies [4448]. The latter was very fond of the artist and his family and supported him wherever she could. They often met in Bavaria, where Countess Trani resided and where the artist spent many holidays. After the premature death of her mother in 1909, Princess Auguste Viktoria spent much time with her grandmother.  

On 4 September 1913, in the chapel of Sigmaringen castle, she married King Manuel II of Portugal (1889-1932) [5160], youngest son of King Carlos I (1863-1908) [5156] and Queen Amélia (1864-1951). Their marriage is said to have been a happy one and lasted until the King’s death. Manuel II had succeeded to the Portuguese throne in 1908 after the assassination of his father and older brother at the hands of revolutionaries. Two years later, after the revolution of October 1910, he was forced to abdicate and moved in permanent exile to England, where this portrait of Auguste Viktoria was painted.

De László affirms her status as Queen of Portugal, in her throne-like chair, although King Manuel had already been in exile for five years, with the grand cross star of the Order of Our Lady of Conception of Vila Viçosa and a Leitão & Irmão tiara set with rubies and diamonds, in the form of a graduated frieze of the cross of the Portuguese Order of Christ,^[3] a gift from her husband. The diamond and ruby choker was ordered from Cartier by Queen Amélia in 1913, most probably as a wedding gift to her daughter-in-law.^[4] 

De László made a sepia drawing of the sitter in Bad Tölz in 1906 [13560], from which a number of coloured lithographs were made. In 1910 he made another drawing of the Queen in the Austrian village of Lermoos [111393]. As well as painting the sitter’s mother and maternal grandmother, the artist also portrayed her paternal grandmother Fürstin Leopold von Hohenzollern, née Princesse Antonia de Braganza [4461].

There also exists an oil sketch, done in preparation for the present portrait showing the sitter in an almost identical pose [5157]. It remained in the possession of the artist on his death and is now in the collection of one of his descendants.

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [13560].

LITERATURE:

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a painter, London 1939, pp. 224, 243        

•Munn, Geoffrey C., Tiaras. A History of Splendour, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2001, p. 400, ill. pl. 357

•DLA158-0001, letter from de László to Henry de László, 1 June 1916

•DLA042-0051, telegraph from Auguste Victoria of Portugal to de László, 1 July 1915

AG & CWS 2011