Felicity of France

Unknown Artist French, early 19th century

engravingprint

Date

1810/14

Medium

Engraving with etching in black on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 45.6 × 35.2 cm (18 × 13 7/8 in.); Plate: 54.5 × 39.8 cm (21 1/2 × 15 11/16 in.); Sheet: 57.2 × 42 cm (22 9/16 × 16 9/16 in.)

Museum

Art Institute of Chicago

Location

Chicago, IL

Credit

Gift of Col. Robert R. McCormick

This allegorical image of Felicity, or Happiness, celebrates Napoleon’s second marriage, to the Austrian archduchess Marie-Louise. The newlyweds appear in portrait miniatures held aloft by Felicity, perhaps a clever comment on the fact that they were introduced and engaged to each other via the intermediary of painted portraits. Indeed, on first seeing her bridegroom in the flesh, Marie-Louise is said to have remarked, “You are much better looking than your portrait.”

Also notable

Works in the same vein

Loveless Disarming Himself

Unknown Artist (French, early 19th century) after Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748-1825)

Reliquary Bust of Saint Margaret of Antioch

Niclaus Gerhaert (Netherlandish, active in Germany, 1462–1473) Workshop of Niclaus Gerhaert (Netherlandish, active in Germany, 1462–1473)

Expressive Head

Artist unknown (French, early 19th century) printed by Comte de Charles Philibert Lasteyrie du Saillant (French, 1759-1849)

Frontispiece for Engravers of the 19th Century

Felix Bracquemond French, 1833–1914