The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Participants were representatives of all European powers and other stakeholders. The Congress was chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, and was held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815.
Sir Thomas Lawrence was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at the Bear Hotel in the Market Square. At age ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits. At 18, he went to London and soon established his reputation as a portrait painter in oils, receiving his first royal commission, a portrait of Queen Charlotte, in 1789. He stayed at the top of his profession until his death, aged 60, in 1830.
Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein, known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternich, was a German statesman and diplomat in the service of the Austrian Empire. A conservative, Metternich was at the center of the European balance of power known as the Concert of Europe for three decades as Austrian foreign minister from 1809 and chancellor from 1821 until the liberal Revolutions of 1848 forced his resignation.
The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a multinational European great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, it was the third most populous monarchy in Europe after the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom, while geographically, it was the third-largest empire in Europe after the Russian Empire and the First French Empire.
Franz Xaver Winterhalter was a German painter and lithographer, known for his flattering portraits of royalty and upper-class society in the mid-19th century. His name has become associated with fashionable court portraiture. Among his best known works are Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting (1855) and the portraits he made of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1865).
Pauline Clémentine Marie Walburga, Princess of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein was an Austrian socialite, mainly active in Vienna and Paris. Known for her great charm and elegance as well as for her social commitment, she was an important promoter of the work of the German composer Richard Wagner and the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. She was also instrumental to the creation of the haute couture industry.
The Kingdom of Illyria was a crown land of the Austrian Empire from 1816 to 1849, the successor state of the Napoleonic Illyrian Provinces, which were reconquered by Austria in the War of the Sixth Coalition. It was established according to the Final Act of the Vienna Congress. Its administrative centre was in Ljubljana
Katharina Friederike Wilhelmine Benigna, Princess of Courland, Duchess of Sagan ; died 29 November 1839 in Vienna, Austrian Empire) was a German noble from the ruling family of Courland and Semigallia and a Duchess of Sagan. Wilhelmine is mainly known for her relationship with Klemens Metternich, a statesman of the Austrian Empire.
Moritz Michael Daffinger was an Austrian miniature painter and sculptor.
The Waterloo Chamber, dating from 1830 to 1831, is a large room in Windsor Castle dedicated to the military defeat of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte by British, Prussian, Russian, and Austrian forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo.
The House of Metternich was an old German noble family originating in the Rhineland. The most prominent member was Prince Klemens von Metternich, who was the dominant figure at the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815). As a former reigning house (mediatised), the Metternich family belonged to the small circle of high nobility.
Princess Marie-Clementine Bagration was the illegitimate daughter of Prince Klemens von Metternich and Princess Catherine Bagration.
Paul Alfons Maria Clemens Lothar Philippus Neri Felix Nicomedes Prinz von Metternich-Winneburg was a German-Austrian racing driver and President of the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI), before becoming President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1975.
Princess Klementine Maria Octavia von Metternich was an Austrian princess.
The Treaty of Paris of 14 March 1812 created an alliance between the Austrian Empire and the French Empire against the Russian Empire. Austria pledged to provide an auxiliary corps of 30,000 troops under the command of the French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, in the event of a war with Russia. The signatory for France was its foreign minister, the Duke of Bassano, and for Austria its ambassador in Paris, the Prince of Schwarzenberg. The treaty had nine public and eleven secret articles. The treaty was published in Le Moniteur Universel on 5 October 1813.
The Portrait of Marshal Blücher is an 1814 portrait painting by the English artist Thomas Lawrence of the Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.
The Duke of Richelieu is an 1818 portrait painting by the British artist Sir Thomas Lawrence of the French Prime Minister Armand Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, 5th Duke of Richelieu. Richelieu was a leading statesman in Restoration France serving twice as premiere during the reign of Louis XVIII, having previously spent many years in exile. It was painted during the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle.
Portrait of Count Nesselrode is an 1818 portrait painting by the British artist Thomas Lawrence of the Russian statesman Karl Nesselrode.
Portrait of Napoleon II is an 1819 portrait painting by the British artist Thomas Lawrence depicting Napoleon II, the young son of the deposed French Emperor Napoleon and his wife Marie Louise, a member of the Austrian royal family.
Portrait of Archduke Charles is an 1819 portrait painting by the English artist Sir Thomas Lawrence of the Austrian general Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. A member of the House of Habsburg he was the younger brother of Francis I of Austria. During the Napoleonic Wars he has commanded Austrian forces in the Allied coalitions against the French Empire. He won a notable victory against Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern-Essling in 1809 before his defeat at the Battle of Wagram.
