Portrait of Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich
Metternich was one of the greatest diplomats of his time. In 1814-1815 he led the Congress of Vienna, meant to establish a new balance of power in Europe after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. Metternich sat to Lawrence in London in 1814, and in Aix-en-Provence and Vienna in 1818. These sessions may have been for the same portrait: Lawrence was notorious for the length of time he sometimes took to complete a painting.