4461

Fürstin Leopold von Hohenzollern, née Princess Antonia de Braganza 1907

Seated three-quarter length to the left, looking full face to the viewer, in mourning: a long-sleeved and high-necked black dress with a white frilled collar just visible, a peaked black headdress edged with white and a black veil attached to the back, gold drop earrings and a gold necklace with a small gold pendant, her hands clasped and resting on her lap, against a grey background

Oil on canvasboard, 102 x 77 cm (40 ⅜ x 30 ⅜ in.)

Inscribed lower right: P.A. László / Sigmaringen / 1907.VI.

Sitters’ Book I, f. 77: Antoinette / Fürstin von Hohenzollern / Infantin von Portugal / Sigmaringen, Juni . 07.

Fürstlich Hohenzollernsche Sammlungen und Hofbibliothek, Sigmaringen, Germany  

Although arrangements for the commission to paint Fürstin Leopold von Hohenzollern had been going on for some time, it was only in June 1907, while de László was painting the portrait of Edward VII in London [7705], that he received an invitation to come to Sigmaringen as soon as possible. According to a telegram sent to London on 19 June by Count Rudolf von Spee, Master of the Princess’s Household, de László was expected to arrive at the castle on the 24th of the month.^[1]

His two-week stay marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Count von Spee [111375], who showed de László the beauties of the ancient castle in the middle of the Black Forest. The artist’s enjoyment of his sojourn certainly contributed to the success of the portrait, which he considered one of his best works. He remembered his sitter as “calm and dignified, with classic features, great charm and intelligence, and a wide experience of life.”^[2] She showed great kindness to him and was extremely interested in her own portrait, maybe because she herself “was also an excellent water-colour painter, having been the pupil of the very able Mlle [Louise] Mercier,” as de László wrote.^[3] 

The sitter’s character is evident in the present painting although she seems sterner and more serious than the artist remembered her. This might be due to the fact that her husband Leopold von Hohenzollern had died only two years earlier; hence the mourning in which she is depicted. As a souvenir for himself the artist made a drawing of the sitter in semi-profile, wearing the same black headdress [111601].

He left Sigmaringen for England after a fortnight to paint the portrait of Queen Alexandra [7707] – a commission he had received during his stay in the Black Forest and the Fürstin gave de László a letter for King Edward, which delivered personally. He remembered that “...while reading it in my presence the King smiled,” and confessed to the artist: “In my youth I loved only three women [...] and that delightful old Princess was one of them.”^[4]   

The present portrait was reproduced as a photolithograph, four copies of which have thus far been traced to private collections. De László also painted the sitter’s daughter-in-law, Fürstin Maria Teresa von Hohenzollern, née Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in 1900 [4448] and in 1915 he made a formal portrait of her granddaughter Princess Auguste Victoria von Hohenzollern, later the Queen of Portugal [4455]. A painting of the princess [9] which, according to the artist, was executed during his stay in Sigmaringen remains untraced.^[5] During his visit he also made a portrait drawing of Count Spee [111375], also at present untraced.

Princess Antonia de Braganza, Infanta of Portugal, was born on 17 February 1845 in Belem near Lisbon, the third daughter of Fernando II, titular King of Portugal and the Algarves, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Saxony (1816–1885) and his wife Maria II da Gloria, Queen of Portugal and the Algarves (1819–1853). On 12 September 1861 Antonia married Leopold, Fürst von Hohenzollern (1835-1905), head of the Catholic branch of the Hohenzollern family, at Lisbon. Prince Leopold was one of the candidates for the Spanish throne after the deposition of Isabella II in 1868.

The eldest of their three sons, Prince Wilhelm (born 1864) married Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Ferdinand^[6] (born 1865), later King Ferdinand I of Roumania [4217], married Marie, eldest daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, son of Queen Victoria^[7]. Karl (born 1868) married Josephine Princess of Belgium.

A keen traveller, the sitter often visited Bad Tölz in Bavaria and her parents’ property in Italy. There she enjoyed painting the flowers and the landscape. She was renowned for her natural good looks and for the elegance and simplicity of her bearing. Prince Leopold died in Berlin in 1905. Fürstin Antonia von Hohenzollern survived her husband by some eight years; she died at Sigmaringen on 17 December 1913.

LITERATURE:        

•The Graphic, 25 July, 1908, ill. p. 105

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, London, 1939, p. 242-44

•Hart-Davis, Duff, in collaboration with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, Philip de László. His Life and Art, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2010, pp. 99-100

•Field, Katherine ed., Transcribed by Susan de Laszlo, The Diaries of Lucy de László Volume I: (1890-1913), de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 105, ill.

•Ion, Narcis Dorin, Regele Caroli Ctitorul României Moderne [King Caroli, Founder of Modern Romania], vol. 1, Editura Măiastra, Târgu Jiu, 2019, p. 28, ill.

•DLA042-0045, telegram from Count Rudolf von Spee to de László, 19 June 1907

•DLA162-0502, Pesti Hírlap, 30 June 1907, p. 11

•László, Lucy de, 1902-1911 diary, 27 July 1907 entry, p. 128

•DLA041-0022, letter from Count Rudolf von Spee to de László, 29 October 1907

ATG 2012