Anton von Werner
Portrait of the Diplomat Joseph Maria von Radowitz (1838 -1912)
Oil on canvas. 63 x 82.5 cm.
Monogrammed and dated lower right: AvW 1878.
Inscribed upper left: v. Radowitz
The sitter of this painting - Joseph Maria von Radowitz (1839 Frankfurt am Main - 1912 Berlin) - was an important German diplomat. He began his career in 1861 at the legation in Constantinople, becoming a legation councillor in China and Japan a year later, managing director of the consulate general in Shanghai in 1864 and serving at the Paris embassy in 1865. During the Franco-Prussian War he worked as an ordinance officer for Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, then as Prussian envoy in Munich and in 1870 as Consul General of the North German Confederation in Bucharest and in 1872 in Constantinople. He was then appointed Privy Councillor of the Legation for Oriental Affairs in the Foreign Office of the German Empire. He ended his career as ambassador of the German Empire in Constantinople and as of 1892 in Madrid.
The present portrait in profile is a preparatory study for Anton von Werner's monumental painting entitled "The Congress of Berlin of 13th July 1878", which was completed in 1881. On that day in Berlin, the Balkan crisis was ended and a new peaceful order for south-eastern Europe was negotiated. Representatives of the major European powers were present, including the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia and the Ottoman Empire.
The large history painting was commissioned by the Berlin magistrate and was intended for the banqueting chamber of the town hall. Anton von Werner began the preparatory work for this commission immediately after the great event. He produced a large number of studies, including this very lively and spontaneous portrait of the important German diplomat.
Von Werner's monumental painting was returned to Berlin's City Hall in 2005.