Oh Well, It Seems I Dont Have Any More Strength For Anything Related To Social Networks Aside From Occasional

Oh well, it seems I don’t have any more strength for anything related to social networks aside from occasional check-ups every now and then.

I still draw things but uploading them also takes weeks and months, so it slowly becomes a vicious circle…

So, without any further explanations comes a tarot card featuring Metternich I finished more recently, since every online Tarot-calculator seems to agree with the majority of people - contemporaries, historians and Heaven itself - on the matter of his demon-hood. 😈

(It has a renown reference at it’s basis, so there’s a deeper meaning of some sort…)

And it’s accompanied by a small postscript with an Austrian historian Viktor Bibl who wrote one of the most critical works about Klemens and his deeds.

Have I read it personally? Or at least have started familiarising myself with it?

Of course not!

My German is too poor for such epic ventures, and I constantly struggle with reading in general but the ginormous e-library and wishful thinking are always there, ehem.

In the 19th century, there were 9 marriages between the House of Wittelsbach and the House of Habsburg:

1816, 29 October. Emperor Franz I of Austria (1768-1835) married Princess Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (1792-1873). They had no children.

1824, 4 November. Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (1802-1878) married Princess Sophie of Bavaria (1805-1872). They had five children, four who survived infancy.

1842, 30 March. Francesco V, Duke of Modena and Archduke of Austria (1819-1875) married Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria (1823-1914). They had one daughter who did not survive infancy.

1844, 16 April. Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, future Prince Regent, (1821-1912) married Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria-Tuscany (1825-1864). They had four children.

1844, 1 May. Archduke Albrecht of Austria, Duke of Teschen (1817-1895) married Princess Hildegard of Bavaria (1825-1864). They had three children, two who survived infancy.

1854, 24 April. Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria (1830-1916) married Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria (1837-1898). They had four children, three who survived infancy.

1866, 20 February. Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, future King Ludwig III, (1845-1921) married Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (1849-1919). They had thirteen children, eleven who survived infancy.

1873, 20 April. Prince Leopold of Bavaria (1846-1930) married Archduchess Gisela of Austria (1856-1932). They had four children.

1893, 15 November. Archduke Joseph August of Austria (1872-1962) married Princess Auguste of Bavaria (1877-1964). They had six children, four who survived infancy.

Okay, I guess, this artwork (drawing practice?) can be present here as well. 😮‍💨

For some reason I haven’t tried to depict Wellington and Castlereagh for 2 years and a half. Last August something made me to do it, however I was able to finish the art only recently.

Still can’t make myself draw someone less popular from the British side of the Napoleonic era. Hopefully, this situation is going to change one day…

At least, the finishing process was very fun! I’m slowly rewatching “Sharpe’s rifles” 5 years after the first viewing and can’t get enough of what I’m seeing, friendly speaking. X)

Like, I feel quite positive about the books and the show itself, even though I may get critique for that. Probably, rightfully. 😗

Even though Metternich’s birthday has passed, I would still love to make some remarks on the piece of artwork I dedicated to him this year.

The first one being that yes, all the people featured there are real historical characters who meant something to him at the most spectacular point of his life. There are field-marshal Schwarzenberg, Wilhelmine von Sagan, his two unfortunate daughters - Maria and Clementine, Friedrich von Gentz and, of course, Monsieur de Talleyrand-Périgord - le Diable boiteux himself. 🥀

And the second one is a close-up of a jewellery that Wilhelmine of Sagan is holding in her hand, since I put a lot of effort into that bracelet despite its insignificance on a scale of the entire work. The design was created without any visual references, though based on a spectacular description from that one book - “Vienna, 1814” - aptly mentioned by @joachimnapoleon in her reblog. :) 💠

I will allow myself to quote the whole passage here, since it’s fascinating in many ways. (However, it’s a translation from English to Russian and then back to English, so I apologise in advance for any inaccuracies in the transmission of original text by David King)

It is probable that on New Year's Eve Metternich was especially lonely and dreary. He tried for the third time to beg the Duchess for a date. "I would hate to spend the first day of the new year, 1815, without seeing you," wrote the prince.

Before the champagne glasses rang, a package from a Viennese jeweler's store was delivered to the Palma Palace. Opening a small satin box, the Duchess found in it a gold bracelet of amazingly fine workmanship, decorated with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and amethysts. In the days of Romanticism each stone had its own symbolism. A diamond and a ruby spoke of love and fidelity; the other two marked birthdays: an amethyst for the Duchess of Sagan, an emerald for Prince Metternich. The messenger brought the package, as ordered by the Prince, "by the stroke of midnight."

Metternich attached a letter to the gift explaining the symbolic meaning of the letter G engraved on each stone: "I would be happy to put this bracelet on your lovely hand myself and say: "Gottgebe Gnade, Gluck, Gedeihen" ("May the Lord send you his blessing, give you prosperity and happiness")."

What Metternich himself did on New Year's Eve is unknown. The poet-songwriter La Garde-Chambona claims that he saw him at the New Year's ball at Count Zichy's, and this is quite possible, although one cannot ignore the young lyricist's tendency to somewhat free handling of dates. It is more likely that the prince, having put down the goose quill and sent the parcel around eleven in the evening, spent the night alone in the office of the state chancellery.

Re-upload in hope that somebody is going to notice and appreciate someone’s hard work.

A comics illustrating specific passage from Metternich’s dual biography with Wilhelmina, Duchess of Sagan.

Metternich's picture is now on public sale at Artaria in the Kohlmarkt, between portraits of Schwarzenberg and of Wellington. Her father is quite a hero, Marie [the eldest child of Klemens and his first wife Eleonore] writes, adding, "Everybody is buying it, and a huge crowd of people are always standing in front of this window." It is not a terribly good likeness; there is a leer in the right eye and Metternich when he sees it declares, "Next time I have my portrait made, it will be without any eyes at all."