Zprávy památkové péče 2013, 73(5):443-447

Four aristocratic portraits from Potštejn - restoration and identification of the portrait subjects

Veronika Cinková, Pavel Blattný, Petr Tybitancl

This article deals with the method of identification of unknown family portraits as exemplified in four restored portraits at the Litomyšl Castle that have their family roots at the Potštejn Castle in Eastern Bohemia. The method is based on an inter-disciplinary cooperation of authors from the fields of restoration, art history, and heraldry. The result was to obtain as much information as possible about the examined artworks which were later compared with other pictures from the Potštejn family gallery. It was found that four restored portraits probably show relatives of the first Potštejn owners from the family of Harbuval Chamaré, John Joseph Anton von Ludwigsdorff with wife Maria Elizabeth Antonia, born Sannig. They were painted around 1743 by Viennese portraitist Johann Jacob Michl. Another is a portrait of John Joseph II Dobřenský of Dobřenice and was likely painted in the 1860's. The portrait of John Prokop Dobřenský the younger from Dobřenice was probably painted around 1866 by the Prague artist Agathon Klemt.

Keywords: portrait; restoration; Potštejn; Harbuval Chamaré; Ludwigsdorff; Jacob Michl; Agathon Klemt

Published: December 1, 2013  Show citation