Great Habsburg Collectors Masterpieces: From the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

Maria Theresa (1717-1780) and Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790)

As neither Emperor Joseph I (1678-1711) nor his younger brother and successor Charles VI produced a male heir, Charles's daughter Maria Theresa eventually assumed the title of Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Bohemia and Hungary. She married Francis Stephan, Duke of Lorraine, so the Habsburg House later became known as the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. Maria Theresa turned out to be the most outstanding female leader of Habsburgs. During her reign, she and her son, Emperor Joseph II, put into practice the ideal of "enlightened absolutism," establishing a foothold for Austria to become a modern country. It was also during this period that the treasure houses and armor collection were reorganized and a chief person put in charge of managing the imperial repositories, picture galleries, and other curiosities. Furthermore, in an effort to centralize authority, artworks left at the Prague castle were transported to Vienna, though some had already been sold to Dresden.