Composer Mihály Mosonyi and his Wife

Portraiture during the first half of the 19th century can be classified in several ways: the ones depicting the model in an interior or outdoors; portraits of families belonging to the bourgeoisie, aristocracy or to the nobility; pictures with only a few figures, or showing more than one generation together. The serenity or animation of a composition can also be a basis of comparison. After studying in Vienna, Munich and Italy, Henrik Weber became an acknowledged painter of genres and historical compositions. The portrait of “Composer Mih�ly Mosonyi and His Wife”, painted in the 1840s, is an intimate portrayal of Weber’s sister and brother-in-law, rendered with soft, warm tones. Mih�ly Mosonyi (Brand) was a composer of operas and other musical forms, and an enthusiastic propagator of Hungarian national music and the music of Richard Wagner.