Baron Dominique-Vivant Denon

Window mounted. A few light brown stains around the edges of the sheet, more noticeable at the four corners of the sheet. A tiny loss at the left margin, in the centre. Colours remain strong and vibrant and overall in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This inscription on the verso of this charming and characteristic portrait by Vivant Denon allows the sitter to be identified with some confidence as the young Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily (1772-1807), the eldest of the seventeen children of the future Ferdinand I of The Two Sicilies and his wife, Marie Caroline of Austria.  Although in 1784 she was in fact two years younger then the inscription suggests, the identification is supported by the fact that Denon was indeed in Naples in that year, and is known to have made portrait sketches of members of the Neapolitan nobility and others who were visiting the court, 43 of which are preserved in a wonderful album now in the collection of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.¹  

Named after Maria Theresa of Austria, her maternal grandmother, the girl shown here went on to marry, in 1790, her cousin the Archduke Francis of Austria, who became the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, and then Emperor Francis I of Austria, thereby explaining the fact that this drawing has in the past also been described as a portrait of the Empress of Austria.  Since she did not become an Empress until eight years after this portrait was executed, the inscription on the verso must have been added at a later date, and whichever of the sitter's many siblings it was who wrote it can be forgiven for not remembering exactly how old their sister had been in 1784.

^1. Paris, ENSBA, collection Masson (recueil 21); see Dominique-Vivant Denon, L'œil de Napoléon, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1999-2000, pp. 83-4, no. 26