[Valentino Radman]

Several days ago, while watching a TV documentary on Austro-Hungarian empire, I spotted a portrait of emperor Franz I, which was shown for a second or two. I browsed the Net, looking for identity of its author.

It was Friedrich von Amerling, a classicist painter who after studying years at Prague Academy, met Sir Thomas Lawrence on his visit to London. Lawrence's work was a strong influence on his painting in the first two decades of Amerling's career.