Владарски портрети цара Фрање Јосифа од Влаха Буковца и визуелизација концепта Viribus unitis крајем 19. века

Abstract

Осим владара из династија Обреновић и Петровић, Влахо Буковац је 1896. године насликао два репрезентативна портрета Фрање Јосифа. Повод за израду тих портрета била је посета аустроугарског владара Загребу 1895. године, а том приликом се догодио сусрет између Фрање Јосифа и Влаха Буковца. Наредне године, Буковац одлази у Беч, где је насликао два службена портрета Фрање Јосифа, од којих је један приказ владара у генералској униформи за Хрватски сабор, а други је портрет монарха у царском оделу за Далматински сабор. Осим Буковца, у истом периоду портрете Фрање Јосифа урадили су и Франтишек Женишек, Ђула Бенцур и Стеван Алексић. Циљ овог рада је да се анализира и контекстуализује историјски тренутак/време и географски простор у којем су портрети настали и да се назначи компарација са другим портретима Фрање Јосифа који припадају приближно истом временском периоду, са геслом Viribus Unitis.

One of the main topics of this paper is the analysis and contextualisation of historical time and geographical space. At the very beginning, we discussed about the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph (1848−1916) and the reorganisation and transformation of the Habsburg Monarchy into the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. After the coronation on December 2, 1848, in the ceremonial hall of the Archdiocese of Olomouc and his return to the royal residence in Vienna, Franz Joseph introduced the chief motto of his future reign Viribus Unitis (With united forces) which was supposed to symbolise unity and reconciliation of multinational and multi-confessional Monarchy. The goal of this slogan was to make Franz Joseph and his rule adhere to the maxim that in a universal, supranational state, all peoples are equal and that everyone is an integral part of it, with Franz Joseph as the supreme ruler. Of course, it was much easier to utter this motto than to put it into practice, because conflicts between central and separatist forces were present to a greater or lesser extent throughout the reign of Franz Joseph. This concept is particularly visible in the ruler’s portraits which encompass the unique elements of the Habsburg Empire, afterwards the Austro- Hungarian Empire and national identities, primarily Hungarian and Czech. The significance of Franz Joseph’s visit to Zagreb in 1895 represents another important topic of this paper. Within Austria-Hungary, there was the Kingdom of Croatia which during the second half of the 19th century experienced a substantial cultural boom, especially the capital Zagreb, culminating in the construction of buildings which housed the most important educational and art institutions. The efforts for cultural progress and the revival of artistic life are associated with Izidor Kršnjavi and Vlaho Bukovac, but certainly also with the supreme ruler, Emperor Franz Joseph. This paper aims to emphasise the importance of the Emperor’s visit to Zagreb in 1895, how he was welcomed by representatives of the local political and social community, as well as the appearance of the city wholly subordinated to the Emperor’s arrival. Apart from the historical and political circumstances of the second half of the 19th century in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the central subject matters are the portraits of Emperor Franz Joseph. At the very beginning of his reign, in the period 1848−1850, the portrayals in the military uniform are dominant. They emphasise the importance of the army, as well as the ruler’s great affection for it which was expressed from an early age. However, the focus of the article is primarily on the ruler’s portraits made by Vlaho Bukovac, and then by František Ženišek and Gyula Benczúr. In 1896, Bukovac was invited to Vienna to portray Franz Joseph. Based on studies and sketches he made on the spot, upon his return to Zagreb, Bukovac painted two representative ruler’s portraits for the Diet of Croatia and Dalmatia. The paper then goes into the iconographic analysis of the paintings but also draws parallels between the portraits of Franz Joseph by other artists from the territory of the Empire, created in an almost identical period. Three more similar paintings of Franc Joseph were created at approximately the same time. The Czech painter František Ženišek made a representative portrait of Franc Joseph in a ceremonial uniform of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1894. In 1896, the Hungarian painter Gyula Benczúr created the painting Emperor Franc Joseph and Empress Elisabeth in Buda Castle wherein the emperor is dressed in Hungarian uniform of a general. Stevan Aleksić portrayed the ruler in a ceremonial Hussar uniform in 1903. All these portraits depict Franz Joseph as a ruler in his later years. In these ruler’s images, we can read the maturity and experience he gained at the head of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ruling over than half a century. Serious senior years of the Emperor necessarily provide him with the concept of security, ruling wisdom and experience, peaceful and stable government. His face points to an old, charismatic personality, while the imperial ornate or military uniform refers to the idea of a supranational ruler from the Habsburg dynasty. Yet, in the portraits made by Ženišek and Benczúr, we discover a clearly highlighted national component reflected by the Czech royal insignia and the Hungarian uniform of a general. The ever-simmering conflicts between the central and separatist powers throughout the second half of the 19th century were never completely overcome, and this is noticeable in the portraits of Franz Joseph by Ženišek and Benczúr, wherein there is an intention to present him as a Czech or Hungarian ruler. Unlike them, Bukovac emphasises this universal, supranational aspect of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor. At the end of the paper, it is the ideology of dynastic patriotism that is emphasised imposing further the comparative analysis of these portraits and the visualisation of the concept of Viribus Unitis (With united forces) in the second half of the 19th century.