Lola Montez (1818–1861)

Josef Heigel was born in Munich in 1780. After studying at the Munich Academy, he went to Paris, where he exhibited miniatures at the Salon from 1817 until 1837. His son Franz Napoleon Heigel (The Met, 41.191.3) was also a miniaturist. In 1953 Leo R. Schidlof, while remarking that it is difficult to distinguish between the work of Josef Heigel and that of his son, considered this miniature the work of the elder Heigel.

Lola Montez (1818–1861) was born Marie Dolores Gilbert in Limerick, Ireland. She had an adventurous career as a dancer and captivated Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786–1868) on her visit to Munich in 1847. She was his mistress until he was forced to abdicate in 1848. She died in New York in 1861 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn.

Although the identity of the sitter has been questioned on grounds of costume, the miniature bears a striking resemblance to other authenticated portraits of Lola Montez. If the costume is correctly dated before 1840, the portrait was painted before she became the mistress of Ludwig I and could be by Josef HeigeI. If these indications are misleading, the miniature would have been painted in Munich after Josef's death by his son Franz Napoleon.

[2016; adapted from Reynolds and Baetjer 1996]

Inscription: Signed (left edge, in black): Heigel.

Helen O. Brice (until 1942)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "European Miniatures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 5, 1996–January 5, 1997, no. 211.

Graham Reynolds with the assistance of Katharine Baetjer. European Miniatures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, pp. 14, 168, no. 211, colorpl. 211 and ill. p. 169, note that "although the identity of the sitter has been questioned on grounds of costume, the miniature bears a striking resemblance to other authenticated portraits of Lola Montez"; state that "if the costume is correctly dated before 1840, the portrait was painted before [Montez] became the mistress of Ludwig I and could be by Josef Heigel," otherwise it was painted in Munich after Josef's death by his son Franz Napoleon.