Austrian School Lot n° 3

19TH CENTURY PORTRAIT OF FIELD MARSHAL ARCHDUKE CHARLES OF AUSTRIA (1771-1847, DUKE OF TESCHEN (ERZHERZOG KARL LUDWIG JOHANN JOSEF LORENZ VON OSTERREICH indistinctly inscribed on the reserve of the canvas oil on canvas, unframed 30 x 23cm. / 11¾ x 9in. Archduke Charles of Austria was considered to be the most respected Austrian Army commander of the early to mid-Napoleonic period, and one of the rare, capable military leaders to emerge from the Austrian imperial house. Born in Florence, Charles was brought up by his aunt and uncle, the Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and Albert of Saxe-Teschen in Vienna. Charles spent much of his youth between Tuscany, Vienna and the Austrian Netherlands, the latter being where he began his military career where he achieved many successes as well as failures. Taking part in the war against Revolutionary France in 1792, he was victorious at Aldenhoven and Neerwinden in 1793 and became governor-general of the Austrian Netherlands the same year. In 1796, he was appointed commander in chief of the Austrian Rhine army and named field marshal general of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1801, Charles became president of the Austrian Hofkriegsrat (|Supreme War Council|, being the only general who had vanquished the French. During his time as president, he reformed Austria's military system, discarding the old system completely. Charles initiated a program of reforms that included the adoption of the |nation-in-arms| principle, utilization of French military organization and tactics, and the founding of military academies.