Martin van Meytens II (Stockholm 1695-1770 Vienna) and Studio

Previously attributed to 'Van Loo' and thought to be the daughters of the Duke of Parma, it is almost certain that the present set of pictures represent an earlier generation of the Habsburg family, the eldest daughters of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (1717-1780). Martin van Meytens was court painter and executed portraits of her and her large family in various permutations.
Ludwig Meyer, to whom we are grateful, has noted that these pictures date to circa 1750 and that they depict Maria Anna (1738-1789), Maria Christine (1742-1798), Elisabeth (1743-1808) and Maria Amalie (1746-1804). Maria Theresa's eldest daughter, Maria Elizabeth, died age three and is consequently not depicted, nor are the younger daughters that are born after 1749 - Johanna Gabriele, Maria Josepha, Maria Karoline and Maria Antonia. We are also grateful to Dr. Georg J. Kugler of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.