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Countess Széchenyi
Also known as: Crescentia, Countess Zichy (1799-1875)
About the Artwork
This portrait typifies painting in Vienna between 1815 and 1865, an era known as the Biedermeier period, during which the Habsburg government promoted positive artistic depictions of Viennese life and culture. The mountains in the background express both the artist's romantic fascination with nature and patriotic devotion to his Austrian homeland. The sitter, Crescentia Seilern, was a prestigious member of the aristocracy who married Hungarian reformist patriot István Széchenyi.
Inscriptions
Signed below the parrot: Waldmül[. . .] 1828
Provenance
Before 1906: Possibly Dr. Izidor Deutsch [d. 1906], Budapest Probably until 1925: Maximilian Mauthner, Schloss Feistritz, Wechsel, Austria 1925: (Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, June 15, 1925, lot 69) Before 1940: Possibly Dr. Paul Eger [1881-1947], Basel 1940: (Sale, Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, Nov. 7-9, 1940, lot 1250, sold to Galerie Nathan) 1940-: (Galerie Nathan, Zürich) By 1970: (Erich von Kreibig, Munich) 1972: (Sale, Neumeister, Munich, Sept. 20-22, 1972, lot 1689 From 1972?: (Galerie Grünwald, Munich) By 1987?: Private collection, Munich 1988: (David Carritt, Ltd./Artemis Group, London, and Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1988-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989). Object in Focus: Countess Széchenyi and Her Prestigious Kashmir Shawl. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 25, 2003-January 4, 2004).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (Austrian, 1793–1865)
- Date
- 1828
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- Framed: 121.5 x 102 x 10.5 cm (47 13/16 x 40 3/16 x 4 1/8 in.); Unframed: 97.8 x 78.5 cm (38 1/2 x 30 7/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1988.57
More by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller in museum collections
Portrait of Franz Jauner (Vienna 1832-1900 Vienna), Theater Director and Actor in Vienna
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller1800–1865 · Drawing
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009237
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