The ''Portrait of

Sigismund of Luxembourg Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1 ...

'' ( it, Ritratto di Sigismondo di Lussemburgo) is a tempera on panel painting attributed to the Italian Late-

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

master

Pisanello Pisanello (c. 1380/1395c. 1450/1455), born Antonio di Puccio Pisano or Antonio di Puccio da Cereto, also erroneously called Vittore Pisano by Giorgio Vasari, was one of the most distinguished painters of the early Italian Renaissance and Quattroc ...

and probably executed between 1432 and 1433. It is on display at the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

in Vienna, Austria.

Description

The portrait was possibly executed when King Sigismund travelled to Mantua to vest Gianfrancesco Gonzaga with the title of

marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

. In October 1431 the King had travelled to Italy to sojourn at the court of

Filippo Maria Visconti Filippo Maria Visconti (3 September 1392 – 13 August 1447)

in Milan, where he received the Iron Crown of Lombardy. He later also stayed in Lucca and Siena, and would proceed to Rome to be crowned

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

by Pope Eugene IV on 31 May 1433. Pisanello, disegni, louvre 2479

The portrait obtained an official status, and was copied several times. In 1451 Piero della Francesca was inspired by it for the features of Sigismund of Burgundy of his fresco '' Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Praying in Front of St. Sigismund'' at the Tempio Malatestiano, where he painted the same hat though without the fur filling. The portrait was part of the Imperial collection and housed in the residence of

Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria (Linz, 14 June 1529 – 24 January 1595, Innsbruck) was ruler of Further Austria and since 1564 Imperial count of Tirol. The son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was married to Philippine Welser ...

at Ambras Castle near

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, before being acquired by the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The attribution to Pisanello is disputed, although supported by a Pisanello drawing of the emperor wearing the same hat, on display at the Louvre in Paris. It was previously attributed to the Salzburg painter Conrad Laib or to a Bohemian artist.

References

* {{15C-painting-stub 1430s paintings Sigismund Luxemburg Sigismund Luxemburg Paintings by Pisanello Paintings in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum