Archduke Charles of Austria.

Etching and stipple, 11,6 x 8,4 cm (sl. browned, water stains).

Under glass and wooden frame, in a 19th-c. wooden box (18 x 13,5 cm), covered with aubergine shagreen, brass clasp, inside lined with purple velvet, one side with housing for the frame, the other side with support and large hinged mobile magnifier, covered with aubergine shagreen, two mobile fixing brackets on each side (some scratches, restoration on one edge, one bracket missing).

The Archduke Charles (1685-1740), unfortunate pretender to the Spanish throne during the War of Succession (1703-1714), was crowned Emperor in 1711 under the name of Charles VI. His hair is made up of micrographic lines of German text, which also extends to his clothes and the oval palm crown surrounding the portrait. The German engraver Püchler (fl. 1679-1709) was a specialist in this unusual and fascinating technique, using minute lettering to write texts, which had its origins in the art of calligraphy, especially in the Jewish tradition. He made similar portraits of Martin Luther, Emperor Joseph I, Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden, John Churchill Duke of Marlborough, etc.
Ref. Friedrich Polleross, "Schrift-Bilder. Zum Werk des Mikrographen Johann Michael Püchler d. J. (1679-1709)", in Beständig im Wandel: Innovationen, Verwandlungen, Konkretisierungen, ed. by Chr. Hecht, Berlin, 2009, pp. 261-281 (fig. 2).