Maria Theresa Dressed in Mourning Clothes

In 1772 Anton von Maron came to Vienna to paint portraits of the imperial family. It was then that the portrait sketch of Empress Maria Theresa today held in the collection of the Dukes of Alba was executed, together with a composition sketch, both of which were used by Maron the following year in Rome as a basis for painting the state portrait of the empress that is today displayed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. This half-length likeness largely corresponds in pose, clothing and painterly execution to the portraits by Maron mentioned above, but was probably painted by him or one of his collaborators for a private patron.