A Heraldic Note about the Portrait of Ladislaus, Count of Haag, by Hans Mielich

Abstract

princes of Liechtenstein, the earliest traceable-in the inventory of 1613-is the portrait of Ladislaus von Fraunberg, count of Haag, by Hans Mielich of Munich, court painter to the duke of Bavaria, Albrecht V (Figure 1). The painting is signed by the artist, and is dated 1557.1 It shows the count in fashionable Spanish-style court dress, standing in front of an open window that permits a view of a wintry landscape with Castle Haag in the distance.2 In the window's upper half is a stained-glass panel with the full armorial achievement of the count: gules, an argent horse, bridled sable, rearing to the sinister, and as its crest, a woman's torso, clad in a gown azure, seme with fleurs-de-lys or, holding up a pointed hat ermine, topped by a plume of peacock feathers. The mantlings are in the colors of the shield, red and white.3 The fleurs-de-lys on the woman's gown are an augmentation of honor granted to Count Ladislaus by Francis I, king of France, when he had distinguished himself in French service. The figure of the woman itself-Frau in German-is a canting device, as a wordplay on Ladislaus's family name, von Fraunberg; this is one of the rare cases of a canting crest (instead of a shield charge). Surrounding this heraldic achievement is an architectural frame, enlivened with figural representations of the four cardinal virtues.4