A gróf, a festő és a bécsi ágens: Széchényi Antal képmása Michael Christoph Emanuel Hagelganstól (1762)

Abstract

The half-length portrait of cavalry general Count Antal Széchényi (1714–1767) is kept in the Rómer Flóris Museum of Győr. During its restoration the painter’s signature came to light: Hagelgans pinxit / Wien 1762, and in the Széchényi family archives the correspondence about the picture can be found. Between the painter and the client, the count’s agent in Vienna, Johann Edler von Hermann was the liaison, who claimed that Hagelgans regarded the painting so good that he kept it for himself and made a replica for Antal Széchényi. In the early 20th century the first picture was kept at the Ludovika military academy in Budapest, and the copy ended up in the museum from the family. The Darmstadt painter signed a representative portrait in the Historical Picture Gallery of the Hungarian National Museum in 1758. Later the portrait – including the face – was overpainted and the coat of arms of chief justice Baron Ferenc Koller as well as the middle cross of the Order of St Stephen Koller received in 1765 were added.Agent Hermann also tried to find a fresco painter for Antal Széchényi and consulted Gregorio Guglielmi, who was working on Schönbrunn at that time. He failed to get advice, but he did send a master to Nagycenk, who may have been Johann Ignaz Cimbal. Although no baroque fresco was painted in the Széchenyi mansion, but on the basis of the style of the altar picture of the chapel (Christ on the Cross) and the praedella showing the Virgin Mary suggests that they might hypothetically be attributed to the fertile altarpiece and fresco painter who had settled from Wagstadt (Bílovec) to Vienna.Several Vienna-based agents of Hungarian aristocrats pursued artistic activity and art brokering. Stefan Fabsich and Antal Pruszkay worked for the bishop of Eger Károly Eszterházy, the mentioned Knight Hermann and a certain Heinrich Schwarzenberger and later his widow acquired art works for István Esterházy of Zólyom (Zvolen), who also employed the court agent Johann Stifftel. Between 1758 and 1762 Stifftel was the secretary of the princes Esterházy in Kismarton (Eisenstadt): he arranged for the first contract with the composer Joseph Haydn.