And yet that portrait of Joseph looking at Fritz like he can barely stand to be in the presence of so much awesomeness.
Well, to be fair, it was painted by a Prussian painter who never saw either party in their life, commissioned by a Prussian Institution. Also, the historical context is important: Menzel painted it in 1855. He already had drawn the very same scene as an Illustration for Kugel's "History of Frederick the Great" which was published in 1840, mind; it evidently meant a lot to him beyond the commission. But still, you have to consider: by 1855, the Holy Roman German Empire had been over for half a century. The big debate in the German states was: if there was to be a unified Germany, a second Empire, would it be a) one uniting all the German speaking states under Habsburg leadership, or b) one which was excluding the Austrians and led by Prussia instead? (This, obviously, was the solution Prussia favoured.) So a painting in which a Habsburg Emperor openly adores the most famous Prussian King there was has, shall we say, a very political message in this context.
But that meeting did happen, and it was Joseph's idea. I always imagine him reasoning with Maria Theresia on the notes of "I can totally see your point, Mom, and don't worry, he won't get any concessions from me, but HE'S JUST SO COOL". (MT: Fine. Guess I'll go and have another date with his favourite sister.)
Mind you, the other monarch Joseph admired was Peter the Great of Russia, and that usually gets blamed for him travelling a lot. As in, A LOT. He was the European ruler who travelled the most of his time; people into statistics claim that if you put all his travels together, it equals one and a half time around the globe, and six years of his life. He was a big believer in learning from travelling (including learning about the people), and checking out your country's most important foe yourself instead of relying solely on ambassadors makes sense from that pov.
Joseph: the RATIONAL fanboy
Well, to be fair, it was painted by a Prussian painter who never saw either party in their life, commissioned by a Prussian Institution. Also, the historical context is important: Menzel painted it in 1855. He already had drawn the very same scene as an Illustration for Kugel's "History of Frederick the Great" which was published in 1840, mind; it evidently meant a lot to him beyond the commission. But still, you have to consider: by 1855, the Holy Roman German Empire had been over for half a century. The big debate in the German states was: if there was to be a unified Germany, a second Empire, would it be a) one uniting all the German speaking states under Habsburg leadership, or b) one which was excluding the Austrians and led by Prussia instead? (This, obviously, was the solution Prussia favoured.) So a painting in which a Habsburg Emperor openly adores the most famous Prussian King there was has, shall we say, a very political message in this context.
But that meeting did happen, and it was Joseph's idea. I always imagine him reasoning with Maria Theresia on the notes of "I can totally see your point, Mom, and don't worry, he won't get any concessions from me, but HE'S JUST SO COOL". (MT: Fine. Guess I'll go and have another date with his favourite sister.)
Mind you, the other monarch Joseph admired was Peter the Great of Russia, and that usually gets blamed for him travelling a lot. As in, A LOT. He was the European ruler who travelled the most of his time; people into statistics claim that if you put all his travels together, it equals one and a half time around the globe, and six years of his life. He was a big believer in learning from travelling (including learning about the people), and checking out your country's most important foe yourself instead of relying solely on ambassadors makes sense from that pov.