Franz Joseph Winter

(Augsburg 1690 – after 1768 Munich)
Portrait of Prince Elector Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria (1727–1777), full-length, wearing a cuirass, the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and the band of the Order of Bavarian Knights of Saint George, with the electoral hat in the background; and
Portrait of Marie Anne Sophia, Princess of Saxony (1728–1797), full-length, wearing the Russian Order of Saint Catherine,
oil on canvas, each 225 x 139 cm, framed, a pair (2)
We are grateful to Helmut Börsch-Supan for suggesting the attribution. In addition we are grateful to Georg Lechner for endorsing the attribution.

Franz Joseph Winter’s career at the Munich court spanned the reigns of several generations of rulers of the house of Wittelsbach. He was commissioned to paint the portraits of Maximilian II Emanuel (1662–1726), Charles VII Albrecht (1697–1745) and that of Maximilian III Joseph (1727–1777). Unfortunately, biographical information about Winter, is surprisingly scarce. Whilst he is often described as having worked until 1757, he was in fact on the court’s Diet and mentioned in documents as late as 1768 (see C. Hutter, Zwischen Rokoko und Klassizismus: Die Tafelbilder des kurfürstlichen Hofmalers Christian Wink (1738–1797), Munich 2012, p. 18; and Thieme-Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, ed. by H. Vollmer, vol. XXXVI, Leipzig 1999, p. 85).

Winter apprenticed with Kaspar Sing and worked in Augsburg, before being appointed court painter at the electoral court in Munich. He painted altarpieces, among others for the important monastery churches of Andechs and Ettal (see F.J. Lipowsky, Baierisches Künstlerlexikon, Munich 1810, vol. II, p.171), but was mostly active as portrait painter throughout his career. Important early commissions appear to have been several portraits of Elector Max Emanuel and his wife Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska. A large-scale pair of portraits of the electoral couple, once decorated the walls at Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, but got lost during the war; versions after this pair of portraits are conserved in Nordkirchen Palace (Franz Joseph Winter, Max Emanuel of Bavaria and Theresia Kunigunde of Bavaria, 1725, Jupitersaal, Nordkirchen Palace). Winter’s portraits of the brothers and members of their courts in hunting dress appear to have become the artist’s specialty, as he continued this genre even for the next generation. A full-length portrait which depicts the Counts Preysing and Seinsheim on either side of the Elector Charles VII Albrecht (Moos Castle, then owned by the Preysing family; see M. Miersch, Das Bild des Electeur Soleil. Herrscherikonographie des Rokoko am Beispiel des Kölner Kurfürsten und Deutschordenshochmeisters Clemens August (1700–1761), Marburg 2007, p. 18, fig. 11), is an early example. A full-length depiction of the Elector without the two counts can be found in the audience chamber of the Yellow Apartment in Augustusburg Palace, Brühl (see Miersch, ibid., p. 19, fig. 8). Franz Joseph Winter later portrayed members of Clemens August’s family and their courts, amongst them some of the sitters are depicted wearing blue and silver falconry uniforms, these works were painted for the salon on the ground floor of Falkenlust Palace in Brühl.

Winter was a very important portrait painter in Munich, outranked only by George Desmarées (1697–1776), who, unlike Winter, has been the subject of recent scholarly work, even though this catalogue raisonné is still unpublished. Winter seems to have been less of an innovator, he focussed on perfecting established portrait types of which he made variations. This is noticeable in his oeuvre as early as in his portraits of Max Emanuel, which seem to be indebted to models by Joseph Vivien (1657–1734). The present pair must rank, undoubtedly, among the most accomplished works by Winter to have ever come to the market. Both portraits, whilst to some extent inspired by models by Desmarées (see for example the Portrait of Maximilian III Joseph, sold within these rooms, 13 April 2011, lot 405) display a great level of sophistication. Especially the fabrics and embroideries, the crisp lace, soft velvet, shimmering armour, diamonds and stones, ermine and silks are remarkably well painted and beautifully preserved. An official state portrait of Maximilian III Joseph by Winter has not appeared on the market before. There is however an engraving known by Jeremias Gottlob Rugendas (1710–1772) after an apparently lost portrait by Winter of which a print is conserved in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. RP-P-1911-5045). This print features the exact same characteristic physiognomy of Maximilian III Joseph that is seen in the present painting. The embroidered and tasselled drapes decorating the upper part of the present portrait of Marie Anne Sophia seem to recall those featured prominently in the upper part of the engraving.

Maximilian III Joseph was very popular with his Bavarian subjects. He was a progressive and enlightened ruler who did much to improve the development of his country. He encouraged agriculture, industry, and exploitation of the mineral wealth of the country. In 1747 the Nymphenburg Porcelain Factory was established, while the Codex Maximilianeus bavaricus civilis, a major codex of common law, was written in 1756. In 1759, he founded Munich’s first academic institution, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Maximilian sold some of the crown jewels to pay for grain imports to relieve hunger during the severe famine in 1770. He was the last of the junior branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty that had ruled Bavaria since early fourteenth century. Maximilian’s death led to a succession dispute and the brief War of the Bavarian Succession (1778). He was succeeded by his twelfth cousin, once removed, the Elector Palatine Charles Theodore from the Palatinate branch of the dynasty. Maximilian’s widow Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony negotiated with Max’s reluctant heir and intervened together with Frederick II of Prussia and the new elector’s presumptive successor, Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken, to secure Bavaria’s independence. This is considered her major political success.