Retrato de Dom Augusto, Duque de Leuchtenberg

This portrait is a copy of an oil by Joseph Karl Stieler, important portraitist in the Bavarian court between the decades of 1820 and 1840. G. Dury was a well-known copyist of Stieler and seems to never have dedicated to paint his own compositions. It is interesting to note, however, that in the original portrait by Stieler, now belonging to a Munich collection, the duke is presented in military uniform. Already this copy portrays him in civil dress, without any indications of his status.

Dom Augusto Carlos Eugênio Napoleon de Beauharnais, second Duke of Leuchtenberg, was born in Milan in 1810, the eldest son of Prince Eugène de Beauharnais - adopted son of Napoleon Bonaparte - and his wife, Princess Augusta of Bavaria. Dom Augusto was also the brother of Dona Amélia de Leuchtenberg, the second wife of Dom Pedro I and Empress of Brazil. The nobleman came to Brazil to accompany his sister's marriage to the emperor in 1829, remaining in the country for two years. In 1835, he would marry the daughter of Dom Pedro I, the Queen of Portugal Dona Maria II. Just two months after the marriage, Dom Augusto would suddenly die, raising suspicions of murder.