Antonio Canova: Monument to Archduchess Marie Christine, 1800

Erected in the Augustinerkirche in 1805, the memorial to Archduchess Marie Christine, who had died in 1798 and is interred in the Kapuzinergruft, is regarded as one of the most important monumental sculptures of the Neoclassical era. It was commissioned by her husband, Duke Albert of Saxony-Teschen, as recorded by the Latin inscription, ‘uxori optimae Albertus’ (to the best wife – Albert).