Lot Essay
A variation of the present work, attributed to Ludwig Guttenbrunn, is held in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. A label on the reverse of lot 52 however, is inscribed ‘a portrait by the artist Grassi’, which suggests the painting may be the work of Josef Grassi (1755-1838), who painted Princess Maria Naryshkin (1779-1854) in 1807 (see Christie’s, London, 18 December 1996, lot 53). As such, the author of this work remains unclear.