Sculpted, cut away on the back.

The nose had broken off and has been reaffixed. The piece is complete with the original pedestal in grey marble with the inscription in gilded lettering; the socle (h. 17 cm) widens towards the bottom. A fluted column (h. 118 cm) in marble-painted wood also accompanies the piece. This column is topped with an inscribed, round, black stone disc.

Commissioned by the sitter, in or before 1724; by whom presented to George Clifford (1657-1727), Amsterdam, 1724; by descent to H.M. van der Mersch, Zeist; by whom donated to the museum, 1986

Object number: NG-716

Credit line: Gift of H.M. van der Mersch

The Austrian general Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), who is portrayed in this bust, was one of the commanders of the allied forces fighting the French in the Spanish War of Succession (1701-1714) and in 1716 became governor of the Austrian Netherlands. Here, Eugene is depicted as a general in a lavishly decorated, ceremonial cuirass and a loosely draped cloak. The chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece hangs on his chest. The portrait is extremely flattering, the facial expression highly idealized and the Prince is portrayed as much younger than he in fact was in 1724, the date mentioned on the socle, i.e. 61 years of age. However, this date not necessarily refers to the year of creation of the bust. It was the year Eugene presented the bust as a gift to the Amsterdam banker George Clifford (1657-1727), as is commemorated in an inscription on a stone slab on the wooden socle: EVGENIO DI SAVOIA DONATIVO DEL PRINCIPE A G: CLIFFORD A° MDCCXXIV. Clifford probably played a significant role in financing the Prince’s numerous art purchases, which often took place in Amsterdam (cf. RP-T-1899-A-4202).¹¹R. van Luttervelt, ‘Een borstbeeld door Eugenius van Savoie aan George Clifford geschonken’, Jaarboek Amstelodamum 43 (1956), pp. 121-23.

The prior attribution of the bust to Gabriël Grupello (1644-1730) is not convincing.²²R. van Luttervelt, ‘Een borstbeeld door Eugenius van Savoie aan George Clifford geschonken’, Jaarboek Amstelodamum 43 (1956), pp. 121-23. Stylistically, the portrait primarily bears a relationship to the work of the Dresden sculptor François Coudray (1678-1727), as comparison with his bust of Elector Frederick August II of 1715 in the Albertinum in Dresden shows.³³U. Arnold, W. Schmidt et al., Barock in Dresden: Kunst und Kunstsammlungen unter der Regierung des Kurfürsten Friedrich August I. von Sachsen und Könings August II. von Polen gennant August der Starke 1694-1733 und des Kurfürsten Friedrich August II. von Sachen und Könings August III. von Polen 1733-1763, exh. cat. Essen (Villa Hügel) 1986, no. 9. The men portrayed are decked out in comparable fashion and both their heads are turned slightly to the side. Their decorated cuirasses are also similarly detailed, as are the thin scarves and the abundantly curled, long wigs. In his youth Coudray worked in the workshop of Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720) in Paris whose influence is clearly evident in these busts. The portrait bust of Prince Frederick August probably accounted for Coudray’s position of sculptor at the Elector’s court of Dresden.

Eugene of Savoy is thought to have encountered Coudray in 1721-23. At that time the Austrian prince was in touch with the sculptor Balthasar Permoser (1651-1733) who was also working in Dresden and was occupied with the Prince’s famous Apotheosis group.⁴⁴A. Husslein-Arco and M.-L. von Plessen (eds.), Prince Eugene: General-Philosopher and Art Lover, exh. cat. Vienna (Belvedere) 2010, no. III.61.

Frits Scholten, 2025
An earlier version of this entry was published in F. Scholten, Gebeeldhouwde portretten/Portrait Sculptures, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1995, no. 64

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 352, with earlier literature; U. Arnold, W. Schmidt et al., Barock in Dresden: Kunst und Kunstsammlungen unter der Regierung des Kurfürsten Friedrich August I. von Sachsen und Könings August II. von Polen gennant August der Starke 1694-1733 und des Kurfürsten Friedrich August II. von Sachen und Könings August III. von Polen 1733-1763, exh. cat. Essen (Villa Hügel) 1986, no. 4.18; F. Scholten, Gebeeldhouwde portretten/Portrait Sculptures, coll. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1995, no. 29; ^[A. Husslein-Arco and M.-L. von Plessen (eds.), Prince Eugene: General-Philosopher and Art Lover, exh. cat. Vienna (Belvedere) 2010, no. III.30

F. Scholten, 2025, 'attributed to François Coudray, Bust of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), Dresden, in or before 1724', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20057210