Staff Austrian Officer in green uniform

hello in TMP there is a discussion about what is a such Staff officer in green with blue collar and silver/white buttons painted by Albrecht Adam at the battle of Mincio in february 1814, the officers of the Generalquartiermeister had black facings and gold lace, and others Staff officers only red instead of blue as you can see and compare with the Mollo/Mansfield's plates in the link below

https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/organization/Austria/UniformPlates/Mollo/c_Mollo.html

5 comments

5 Comments

David Hollins

Feb 27

The painting was sold in 2022 and gas the following notes: Portrait of an Austrian officer on horseback Signed and inscribed ''am Mincio den 8ten Februar 1814'' lower right. Oil on canvas. 38.5 x 47 cm. Restored. Damaged. Damage to frame (52 x 60.5 cm). Provenance: according to the information given by the consignors, owned by the Princely Family of Schwarzenberg. - Owned by Austrian nobilty. We would like to thank Daniel Hohrath M.A., Museum for the Bavarian Army in Ingolstadt, for the further information on the possible identification of the depicted figure.

Rob Wolters

Feb 24

Feldkriegskommissär would not have worn a sash. That the sash is worn over the shoulder also indicates that the officer serves as a regimental adjudant or ADC, in this case most likely an ADC.

This reply was deleted.

David Hollins

Feb 26

Replying to

The Adjutant is the correct rank - AdC is just the English translation using the French original! The Feldbinde over the shoulder is the sign of the adjutant staff at either army, intermediate or regimental levels, as noted in Karger. The regimental adjutant (often a former Feldwebel en route to a commission) wearing the normal uniform f his regiment. The guy in the background of the Leipzig painting is a regimental adjutant.

I think the 1814 Adam painting must be a regimental adjutant too as the jacket looks more grey than green. It is probably an artist's error, confusing the dark grey Oberrock or maybe it is the Oberst Rudolf Count von Salis-Zizers (1779-1840), of Erzherzog Carl IR3, who has changed his Feldbinde position for effect as he is not wearing a swordbelt nor sword. The interesting point is the schabraque, which appears to be leopard skin. I have only seen this in Sagvaryi's book on the Hussars. Although it rather cartoon style, the illustrations suggest that giraffe pelts were sometimes used in place of leopard, but that schabraque was only used by General der Kavallerie generals.

This comment was deleted.

David Hollins

Mar 04

Replying to

The problem with the likes of Trentsensky and Krafft is that they painted many years after the wars - Krafft's Leipzig painting is 1839 - so they probably did not do that much research and tend to portray uniforms s they were at the time of painting.

This reply was deleted.

David Hollins

Mar 04

Replying to

Strange way to wear a swordbelt! My mistake on Trentsensky, but it has been a while since I looked at these artists and their printers.

Wiki, citing the ADB, says "In 1815, with the Napoleonic wars drawing to a close, Adam relocated permanently to Munich, where he was court painter to Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, a position that allowed him to complete commissions for many prominent families in Bavaria and Austria." Presumably this would be the Schwarzenbergs for this painting, given the provenance in the recent sale. So, maybe it was one of the Schwarzenbergs as these junior sons of nobles often went along with the Adjutant Staff as they were chosen by the commanding General?