Metrics
7 views
3 downloads
Image
Maximilian Franz (1756–1801), Elector of Cologne
Engraving by Wilhelm Arndt after a portrait by F. E. Baron de Leida
- Date
- 2025-04-19
- Resource Type
- Creator
- CreatorContributor
- Form of original
- img/jp2
- Campus
- Subjects
- Date created
- 2020-12-07
- Handle
- Identifier
- g2f238
- islandora:3678
- Notes
- Exhibited: The Beethovens on the Rhine (2020). Exhibition text: Maximilian Franz grew up in the Hofburg palace in Vienna, alongside his siblings who included the future Habsburg Emperor Joseph II and the ill-fated Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France before the Revolution. He became Archbishop-Elector of Cologne in 1784 on the death of his predecessor Maximilian Friedrich. Maximilian Franz was a great lover of music and was personally acquainted with Mozart, whose music he adored. He shared his brother Joseph’s Enlightenment ideals and hated stiff ceremony. He was often seen to wander the streets in a dirty overcoat, and, as this portrait shows, he did not wear a powdered wig as was then fashionable amongst the aristocracy. Beethoven intended to dedicate his First Symphony to Maximilian Franz in 1800, but his former employee died that year so the dedication went to Baron Gottfried van Swieten instead.
- Rights Note
- This work is in the public domain and therefore the digital images attached to this catalog record may be used without permission. Credit statements for these images should read “From the collections of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San José State University.” For information on obtaining higher resolution reproductions and permission to publish, see the Beethoven Center's website https://www.sjsu.edu/beethoven/collection/library-materials/index.php
Relationships
- In Collection:
