Thomas Gainsborough, Sudbury, Suffolk 1727 ¨C 1788 London, Mrs. Thomas Hibbert. 1786, Öl auf Leinwand, 127 ¡Á 101,5 cm, M¨¹nchen, Leihgabe des Vereins zur Förderung der Alten und Neuen Pinakothek an die Bayrische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Inv.-Nr. FV 4

VIENNA, AUSTRIA.- Österreichische Galerie Belvedere presents Enlightened Bourgeois - Portraits from Gainsborough to Waldm¨¹ller 1750 ¨C1840, on view through February 18, 2007. In the course of the eighteenth century the art of portraiture throughout Europe underwent a remarkable transformation. As the age of Feudalism gave way to Enlightenment the old impersonal precepts of portraiture were replaced by demands for a more individual representation of the sitter. The exhibition shows this artistic development in the imperial city of Vienna, with works by Messerschmidt, Friedrich Heinrich F¨¹ger, Johann Baptist Lampi, Ferdinand Georg Waldm¨¹ller and Friedrich von Amerling. These are put into context with examples from other capitals such as Berlin and Madrid (Francisco de Goya). French portraiture is represented by Jacques Louis David, Elisabeth Vig¨¦e-Le Brun, François G¨¦rard and Houdon; the art in Great Britain by Thomas Gainsborough, Thomas Lawrence and David Wilkie.