Moritz Michael Daffinger – the unsurpassed master of portrait miniature in the history of Austrian painting

Moritz Michael Daffinger(January 25, 1790 – August 21, 1849) was a famous Austrian artist of the first half of the 19th century, an outstanding master of the portrait genre. He painted not on traditional canvas, but on more exotic materials: porcelain, ivory or paper. The best masterpieces of his work today are kept in private collections of patrons and representatives of the highest European nobility, and his biography is closely connected with Vienna, where he lived all his life.

Moritz Michael Duffinger masterfully mastered the technique of writing miniatures and was distinguished by his extraordinary capacity for work. He created more than 1000 works of the portrait genre, and at the end of his life he became interested in floristry and left to his descendants more than 400 watercolor works with images of flowers.

Biography

Moritz Michael Duffinger was born in the suburbs of Vienna on January 25, 1790 in the family of a master porcelain painter. At the age of six, the boy lost his father, who died suddenly from mushroom poisoning. Fortunately, Moritz inherited the ability to art from Duffinger Sr. and in 1801 he was hired as an apprentice at the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory.

A year later, the 12-year-old teenager received the right to receive a scholarship and, in parallel with working at the factory, began attending classes at the Royal Academy of Arts. Under the guidance of an experienced professor, Heinrich Friedrich Füger, he quickly made significant progress in his studies and received a number of prestigious awards.

At the manufactory, Moritz was engaged in artistic painting of porcelain products. On jugs, plates and trays, he created skillful images on mythological themes and portraits of members of the imperial family, and also copied paintings by famous artists of past eras. And since 1809, Duffinger mastered the technique of painting ivory and soon gained fame as the best master of portrait miniature in Vienna.

In 1809, the young man retired from the porcelain manufactory and became an independent professional portrait painter. At first, members of the imperial family and the highest Austrian nobility were his regular customers, but after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Moritz Duffinger became widely known throughout Europe.

A skilled painter painted miniature portraits of wealthy clients with amazing speed:

• leading figures of literature and art;
• members of the most famous family dynasties of Europe;
• prominent military leaders and diplomats; wealthy bourgeois, merchants and bankers.

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827, Moritz Duffinger married Maria Theresa Smolenitz von Smolk, with whom he lived in marriage until the end of his days. In this family union, the artist’s only daughter was born, whom he loved very much. Unfortunately, the girl died in 1841 and this tragic event made a huge impression on the master.

Having lost his daughter, Duffinger completely lost interest in the portrait genre and switched to painting flower-themed paintings. By that time, he had amassed a solid fortune and did not experience financial difficulties. The authoritative artist became a recluse, and devoted all his time to painting.

Moritz Michael Duffinger died on August 21, 1849 at the age of 59 in his own Viennese mansion from cholera. And his remains rest in the Main Churchyard of the Austrian capital under a modest gravestone monument depicting a mournful angel.