Ludwig Guttenbrunn

Ludwig Guttenbrunn (1750 – 15 January 1819) was an artist who worked in the latter part of the 18th century and early 19th century. He was born in the Holy Roman Empire and died in the Austrian Empire. He specialized in portraiture and history painting.

Life Guttenbrunn was born either in Vienna, or in Krems. He studied painting under Martin Johann Schmidt. By 1770 he was working for the Esterházy family, where he painted portraits of the reigning prince, Nikolaus Esterházy, and possibly the portrait of Joseph Haydn seen and discussed below. He also created decorative paintings for Nikolaus's new palace at Esterháza.

In 1789 he moved to London. Shortly after arrival, or perhaps on the way, he produced the portrait of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, shown below. (The Queen had been guillotined by the revolutionary government the previous year.)

In 1795, on the recommendation of the Russian envoy in London, he moved to St. Peterburg, then later to Moscow.

The portrait shows Haydn in the act of composing: he is seated at a keyboard, gazing into the distance, testing out notes with one hand and putting pen to paper with the other.

Gallery These images may be viewed in larger size by clicking on them.