Lot Essay
The sitter was the last of his line to live at Schloss Greinburg, Austria, which he sold in 1621 to Graf Leonhard Helfrich von Meggau. The castle had been aquired in 1533 by Johan Leble (Löbl), an Imperial Councellor, Burgvogt (Governor of a castle) of Enns and Landvogt (Governor of a territory) of Swabia, and it was under him that the building took much of its present form. After several changes of hands after 1621, the castle was aquired in 1822 by the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, becoming their official residence.