LUYCKX, Frans

This painting was probably painted in Vienna, where Luyckx was a court painter.

Frans Luyckx settled permanently in Vienna and painted here portraits of the Habsburgs, basing his compositions on those of Vel�zquez.

The painting represents Archduke Karl Joseph (1649-1664), son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, with puppy and cockatoo,, at the age of about one and a half years. He was Archduke of Austria and Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (1662–64).

Eleonora Gonzaga (1630-1686), was by birth Princess of Mantua of the House of Gonzaga and by marriage Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia.

Eleonora is depicted as the hunting goddess Diana with a greyhound, arrows and bow and a hunting horn in the background. In the lower right corner, in the form of a hunting still-life, there is a doe, a hare, a pheasant, a male bar-tailed godwit and a red-crested pochard.

Frans Luyckx settled permanently in Vienna. His style betrays an interest for drama in the drapery and fall of robes.

Frans Luyckx settled permanently in Vienna and painted here portraits of the Habsburgs, basing his compositions on those of Vel�zquez.

Archduchess Maria of Austria (1528-1603) was Holy Roman Empress and queen consort of Bohemia and Hungary as the spouse of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia and Hungary. She served as regent of Spain in the absence of her father Emperor Charles V from 1548 until 1551, and in the absence of her brother Philip II, from 1558 to 1561.