Lot Essay
The present painting has been linked to the princely house of Reuss for its entire known history. In the 17th Century, the house Reuss-Gera itself was divided into three lines: Reuss-Gera, Reuss-Schleiz and Reuss-Lobenstein. In 1673, the Holy Roman Emperor elevated the heads of these three lines to Reichsgraf or Imperial Count. The Reuss-Gera line survived until 1802. The counts of Reuss-Lobenstein became princes in 1790. Various Reuss-Lobenstein lines died out, and the principality passed from cousin to cousin. Eventually the last Fürst zu Reuss-Lobenstein abdicated in favour of a distant cousin in the Reuss-Schleiz line. Having inherited the Gera lands in 1802 and having themselves been elevated to princes in 1806, with this abdication, the line of Reuss-Schleiz succeeded in reuniting the Reuss Younger Line.