Name of Object:

Glorification of Emperor Charles VI

Location:

Budapest, Közép-Magyarország / Central Hungary, Hungary

Holding Museum:

Hungarian National Museum

Date of Object:

1755

Artist(s) / Craftsperson(s):

Josef Adam Ritter von Mölck (1718, Rodaun bei Wien-1794, Wien)

Museum Inventory Number:

166

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Oil on copperplate

Dimensions:

H: 57 cm; w: 86 cm

Provenance:

Probably commissioned by Emperor Francis of Lorraine

Type of object:

Painting (Allegorical)

Description:

Sitting in his ceremonial tent on the right, the ruler is receiving a report. Surrounded by angels and wearing a crown, the Virgin Mary – in a cloud over the tent – reaches out towards the Emperor with an olive branch. To the right of the tent there is a column decorated with portraits of Habsburg rulers in roundels: emperors Ferdinand III, Leopold I, Joseph I and Charles VI. The dates inscribed on the column, 1740 and 1745, may refer to the emperorship of Charles Albert Elector of Bavaria and the Peace of Dresden Treaty, which resulted in the election of Maria Theresia's husband, Francis of Lorraine, as emperor. This is why it is likely that Francis of Lorraine commissioned the picture as a monument to his father-in-law's Ottoman campaigns. In the foreground on the left, a battle scene probably depicts the Siege of Belgrade, displaying the recognisable figure of Prince Eugene von Savoy.
The fresco and altarpiece painter, Joseph Adam Mölck, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and records mention that he was there in 1733. Mölck worked for 15 years in Bavaria and Tyrol. In 1764, he painted frescos and altarpieces for churches in Steiermark. He worked in Lower Austria for the final 12 years of his career. His oeuvre was extensive and he worked with collaborators to achieve large commissions. The art and theory of the Italian architect and painter, Andrea Pozzo, influenced Mölck's frescos.
Mölck visited Vienna in 1754, but why he did so remains a mystery; there is possibly a connection between the commission of this painting and Mölck's appointment as Tyrolean court painter in 1755.

An allegorical composition of an emperor's military deeds is a special subject and this is a unique example of it. The dates on the column (1740 and 1745) may refer to the Peace of Dresden Treaty, which resulted in the election of Maria Theresia's husband, Francis of Lorraine, as emperor. It is likely that Francis of Lorraine commissioned the picture to commemorate his father-in-law's Ottoman campaigns.

How date and origin were established:

The painting is signed and dated.

How Object was obtained:

From the old collection of the Hungarian National Museum.

Selected bibliography:

Rózsa, G., A Történelmi Képcsarnok legszebb festményei (The most beautiful paintings of the Historical Gallery), Budapest, 1977, pp. 13–14, cat. 18.
Rózsa, G., “Cat. Nr. 110”, Barokk művészet Közép-Európában. Utak és találkozások (Crossroads: Baroque Art in Central Europe) exhibition catalogue, (ed. G. Galavics), Budapest, 1993.

Citation of this web page:

Zsuzsanna  Boda (following György Rózsa) "Glorification of Emperor Charles VI" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;hu;Mus11_B;10;en

Prepared by: Zsuzsanna Boda (following György Rózsa)
Copyedited by: Terézia BardiTerézia Bardi

SURNAME: Bardi
NAME: Terézia Anna

AFFILIATION: National Trust of Monuments for Hungary

TITLE: Art Historian, Vice Director for Research at The National Trust of
Monuments for Hungary; MWNF DBA local co-ordinator (Hungary), author
and copy-editor

CV:
Terézia Bardi, Vice Director for Research at the National Trust of Monuments for Hungary since 2004, was awarded her MA in History and History of Art at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. After a period of fellowships mainly in Italy, Terézia gained her PhD from the Faculty of Art History at the same university for her thesis Presentation and Representation – the European Reception of the Liberation of Buda in 1686: Feast and Public Opinion. Her main fields of research are 17th-and18th-century Baroque and Rococo: the spectacles, festival decorations and associated iconography – including theatre productions of the period – and interior decoration of historic houses. Since 1988, she has edited a number of art historical books that include some on Oriental art and architecture. She is MWNF DBA’s local (Hungarian) co-ordinator, author and copy-editor.
Translation by: Zsuzsanna Boda, Beatrix Basics
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: HU 10