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Habsburg & Austrian Imperial Portraits

About this collection

Habsburg portraits are the likenesses of the emperors, officers and ladies of the Austrian imperial court, painted for its households from the late 18th century to the Biedermeier years.

Uniforms did the talking. Emperors wear the collar of their orders, young officers the white coat of the Austrian army or the braided dress of the hussars, and the ladies of the court their jewels, most of them painted on canvas at a modest size and kept in gilt frames.

Portrait of a young Austrian officer in white uniform with the Golden Fleece, Austrian school oil on canvas, early 19th century, in a wide gilt frame

Austrian School, early 19th century

Officer with the Golden Fleece
$2,700
Habsburg portrait of a lady with jeweled tiara and red shawl, early 19th century oil in gilt frame

Austrian School, early 19th century

Lady with a Jeweled Tiara, 1800s
$3,400
Portrait of a hussar officer in pale blue dolman with black fur pelisse and a silver breast star, early 19th century Austrian oil on canvas in a period gilt frame

Austrian School, early 19th century

Hussar Officer in Blue, 1800s
$2,900
Portrait of a Habsburg archduke in the white uniform of the Austrian army with the Golden Fleece and the Maria Theresa star, Austrian school circa 1800, in a gilt frame

Austrian School, circa 1800

Archduke in White Uniform
$3,200

Guides · before you buy

Emperors, Officers and the Symbols They WoreA double-headed eagle, a golden ram on a ribbon, a white coat.Read the guide
Early 19th century officer in a dark green coat with a pale blue sash and silver star, oil on canvas in a moulded gilt frame

Austrian School, early 19th century

Officer with Sash and Star
$2,900
Portrait of Emperor Joseph II, 19th century Austrian School oil on canvas, in a gilt frame

Austrian School, 19th century

Emperor Joseph II, 1800s
$2,900
Portrait of a Habsburg officer in white Austrian uniform with orders, oil in gilt frame

Austrian School, early 19th century

Habsburg Officer, 1800s
$2,900
 The school Austrian Biedermeier1815 to 1848Vienna, precise portraits, and the Habsburg court.Discover the school

GalerieClub Fine Art

1,100+

paintings sold since 2017

Poppy Fields, late 1800sSold Poppy Fields, late 1800s Hagar and Ishmael, 1700sSold Hagar and Ishmael, 1700s Penitent Magdalene, 1600sSold Penitent Magdalene, 1600s

Our promise

  • Every painting photographed front and back
  • The frame you see is the frame that ships
  • Free tracked UPS Express Saver to the US

New paintings, by email

A note when new paintings come in. Nothing else.

Elsewhere in the gallery

Habsburg portrait oil paintings

An empire needed faces. The Habsburg court sent the likeness of its rulers to embassies, garrisons and loyal households across Central Europe, and officers had their own portraits painted in the uniform of their regiment. The Habsburg portrait oil paintings here come out of that habit of display and loyalty.

  • The imperial image followed strict rules, the ruler in uniform with his orders in plain view, and versions of it were painted for officials who wanted it on their walls. An Austrian court portrait painting keeps that formality, a dark ground and every decoration painted with care.

  • The white coat of the Austrian infantry and the blue dolman of the hussars changed with each set of regulations, so an Austrian officer portrait in white uniform or in hussar dress can often be placed within the years of the Napoleonic wars from what the sitter wears.

  • One decoration mattered more than any other. Founded in 1430 by the Duke of Burgundy, the Order of the Golden Fleece passed to the Habsburgs with the Burgundian lands and remained the highest order of the imperial house. In a Golden Fleece portrait painting the golden ram hangs from a collar or a ribbon at the sitter's neck.

  • The ladies of the court were painted with their jewels, a tiara, pearls and the high-waisted dress of the early 19th century, in a Biedermeier court portrait gentler than the formal image of an emperor.