Christian Seybold

Christian Seybold (19 March 1695, Neuenhain, Bad Soden - 28 September 1768, Vienna) was a German painter in the Baroque style. He is best known for his detailed, realistic portraits (over two dozen of himself), which stood out from the idealized ones preferred at that time. Some of his works might be classified as tronies.

Biography

Little is known about his childhood or education and he may have been largely self-taught. He was one of eleven children in a family that originally came from Oberursel. He apparently lived in Bad Soden until 1715, then moved to Vienna. That same year, he married and became a father only one month later. Both his wife and child died within the following two years, and he remarried in 1718.

His first known portrait (1728) is one of Count Johann Adam von Questenberg, a prominent patron of the arts and musical instrument collector. In 1742, he moved to Dresden after receiving an appointment as court painter to King Augustus III, who was also the Elector of Saxony. Seven years later, he returned to Vienna when he was named to fill the same position at the court of Empress Maria Theresa.

His portrait style was somewhat influenced by Balthasar Denner and Jan Kupecký. Because of the meticulously rendered minor details, such as hairs and wrinkles, it is believed that he used a magnifying glass while painting. Today his paintings are widely scattered, from the Louvre to the Uffizi and the Hermitage. Many have disappeared, as they seem to have been especially popular with looters.