Oil, canvas; 72.5 x 55.5 cm
Asking price 40000
Estimate 50000 - 60000
On the reverse, inscription in black paint: Comtesse Sophie | Potocka. Peint par H.| Maurer, | Vienne | en 1797. On the crozier, in the upper right corner, a fragment of an illegible sticker; below, a circular wax seal with a fragment of a column with a crown above it and a Cyrillic inscription in the rim; to the left on the crozier, another circular wax seal with a coat of arms in the middle. In the lower right quadrant on the canvas an oval seal partially legible: DEKORACYJNA.....| K.KANIEWSKI .....| NOWY- ŚWIAT Nr. 64 | telef 3-71 | W WARSZAWIE
This painting was sold on 15.10.2000 at the 11th Auction of the Ostoya Auction House
Hubert MAURER
1738 Lengsdorf - 1818 Vienna
He initially studied under the court painter of the Bavarian court, J. G. Winter. From 1762, he continued his studies at the Vienna Academy and with J. Baumgartner. Then in 1772-76 he stayed in Rome. After returning to Vienna, he became a professor of drawing at the Academy there. He painted mythological and religious scenes and portraits. In the first phase of his work he created in the Baroque style, later in the Classical style.
Sophie Konstantinovna Glavani primo voto Witt secundo voto Potocka, also introduced as Sophie de Tchelitche (Celice) (1760 -1822) - Istanbul courtesan of Greek origin, according to legend a slave of the Sultan, famous metresa of many personalities, a spy. A favorite of European salons; one of the most colorful figures of Polish history, to which she passed as a woman famous for her exceptional beauty (La Belle Phanariote. The Beautiful Batwoman), intellect and numerous romances. She was also known for her cunning and unscrupulousness. She entered the salons as the wife of Jozef Witt (1778-1798), and after divorcing him - as the third wife of Stanislaw Szczesny Potocki, whom she married on April 17, 1798.
The portrait of Sophie Potocki , "the most beautiful woman in Europe" with a turbulent life and improbable social advancement, is an unusual offering on the market. Despite the dazzling beauty that fascinated her contemporaries, few images of her have survived, and the one offered is of exceptional beauty.
