Analysis Of The Portrait Of Fraunberg, Count Of Haag

The Portrait of Ladislaus Von Fraunberg, Count of Haag can be found in the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, Austria. The portrait was painted by Hans Mielich in 1557. The full bodied composition portrays the Count of Haag, with his royal power inside his throne chambers. This renaissance take on a life-size full-length ruler portrait expresses a bunch of artistic choices on the behalf of Mielich. In his work, I would argue Hans Mielich is trying to visually transpose the wealth, masculinity, and power of his sitter, the Count of Haag, through the inclusion of symbols and his stylistic choices within the piece. Mielich made a point to indicate to the viewer just how wealthy Count Haag was in his portrait in several ways, including his attire. The ornate and lush fabric that clothes the Count, complete with a cape, jewelry, and gold embroidery was something few people could afford to own during the period. Due to the strikingly ornate details of the matching cape, top, and pants worn by the Count, one could assume the clothing was custom made for the ruler.
This outfit would be quite a pain to hunt in, or use some sort of tools because of the restrictive nature of the fabric. Additionally, the ensemble would likely not provide much warmth in the chilly Bavarian weather due to the fact that there are no pants. The wearer of this outfit is not someone who has to labor, or be outside very often. Indeed, by wearing such a costume, there is only one vocation in which the wearer is only required to lounge around: ruler. Therefore, the ornate, custom, and decorative features of the Count’s clothing visually communicates wealth to those who see it, and signals to the viewer that the Count is wealthy enough to afford to wear garments of