This is the painting that the bust is based on. Below you can read about the painter and why Franz was Franz I and Franz II (Napoleon was involved)
Franz II Holy Roman Emperor 1792-1806
Franz I Emperor of Austria 1804-1835
FRANZ II WAS BORN FEBRUARY 12, 1768 AND DIED MARCH 2, 1835. HE WAS A SON OF AUSTRIAN EMPEROR LEOPOLD II (1747-1792) AND HIS WIFE MARIA LUISA OF SPAIN (1745-1792), DAUGHTER OF CHARLES III OF SPAIN. FRANCIS WAS BORN IN FLORENCE, THE CAPITAL OF TUSCANY WHERE HIS FATHER REIGNED AS GRAND DUKE FROM 1765-90. THOUGH HE HAD A HAPPY CHILDHOOD SURROUNDED BY HIS MANY SIBLINGS, HIS FAMILY KNEW FRANCIS WAS LIKELY TO BE A FUTURE EMPEROR (HIS UNCLE JOSEPH HAD NO SURVIVING ISSUE FROM EITHER OF HIS TWO MARRIAGES). IN 1784, THE YOUNG ARCHDUKE WAS SENT TO THE IMPERIAL COURT IN VIENNA TO EDUCATE AND PREPARE HIM FOR HIS FUTURE ROLE.
HE WAS THE LAST HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR, RULING FROM 1792 UNTIL 6 AUGUST 1806, WHEN HE DISSOLVED THE EMPIRE AFTER THE DISASTROUS DEFEAT OF THE THIRD COALITION BY NAPOLEON AT THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ. IN 1804, HE HAD FOUNDED THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE AND BECAME FRANZ I OF AUSTRIA, THE FIRST EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA, RULING FROM 1804 TO 1835. LATER HE WAS NAMED THE ONE AND ONLY DOPPELKAISER (DOUBLE EMPEROR) IN HISTORY. FOR THE TWO YEARS BETWEEN 1804 AND 1806, FRANZ USED THE TITLE AND STYLE BY THE GRACE OF GOD ELECTED ROMAN EMPEROR, ALWAYS AUGUST, HEREDITARY EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA AND HE WAS CALLED THE EMPEROR OF BOTH GERMANY AND AUSTRIA. HE WAS ALSO APOSTOLIC KING OF HUNGARY, KING OF CROATIA-SLAVONIA, AND KING OF BOHEMIA. HE ALSO SERVED AS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE GERMAN CONFERERATION FOLLOWING ITS ESTABLISHMENT IN 1815.
FRANZ I CONTINUED HIS LEADING ROLE AS AN OPPONENT OF NAPOLEONIC FRANCE IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS, AND SUFFERED SEVERAL MORE DEFEATS AFTER AUSTERLITZ. THE PROXY MARRIAGE OF STATE OF HIS DAUGHTER MARIE LOUISE OF AUSTRIA TO NAPOLEON I ON 10 MARCH 1810 WAS ASSUREDLY HIS MOST SEVERE DEFEAT. AFTER THE ABDICATION OF NAPOLEON FOLLOWING THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, AUSTRIA PARTICIPATED AS A LEADING MEMBER OF THE HOLY ALLIANCE AT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. FOLLOWING NAPOLEON'S DEFEAT IN 1815, FRANZ I RULED HIS AUSTRIAN EMPIRE UNTIL HIS DEATH AT AGE 68 IN 1835.
FRANZ I WAS INTERRED IN THE TRADITIONAL RESTING PLACE OF HABSBURG MONARCHS, THE KAPUZINER IMPERIAL CRYPT IN VIENNA'S NEUE MARKT SQUARE. HE IS BURIED IN TOMB NUMBER 57, SURROUNDED BY HIS FOUR WIVES.
UPON HIS DEATH, HIS SON FERDINAND BECAME EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA, FERDINAND I 1835-1848
THE BUST IS BASED ON THE PAINTING OF EMPEROR FRANZ I IN HIS FIELD MARSHAL'S UNIFORM. FRANZ I WEARS THE ORDER OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE (IN DIAMONDS) NECK BADGE. BREAST STARS INCLUDE, THE ORDER OF MARIA THERESA, THE ROYAL HUNGARIAN ORDER OF SAINT STEPHEN, THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD AND THE ORDER OF THE IRON CROWN. THE UPPER RIBBON AND BADGE IS THE AUSTRIAN CANNON CROSS 1814. THE PORTAIT BY AUSTRIAN COURT PAINTER ADALBERT SUCHY 1783-1849. THE PAINTING IS SIGNED AND DATED 1820.
