Joseph II was the son of Francis I (1708-65) and the Empress Maria Theresa (1717-80); he succeeded his father in 1765, but only acted as sole ruler for a decade after the death of his mother in 1780. He was one of the key ‘enlightened despots’ of the eighteenth century, liberating surfs and establishing religious toleration in 1781 and abolishing the death penalty in 1787.

This is a crude copy of a composition created by Joseph Hickel (1736-1807). The Emperor appears half-length, standing at a writing table on which is an envelope from which he has taken a paper which he holds in his right hand, an inkstand and some books; he is wearing military uniform. The Order of the Golden Fleece is visible around his neck and he wears the sash and badge of the Military Order of Maria Theresa and the batch of the Order of St Stephen of Hungary.