Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust — "Austria"

Signed Ape (Carlo Pellegrini), this chromolithograph shows Count von Beust — Austrian statesman, former Saxon minister, and then-Ambassador to London — in full court dress: dark tailcoat, orange sash, boutonnière, and top hat tucked under one arm. His right hand is raised, pince-nez pressed to his temple, conveying the air of a seasoned diplomat mid-calculation. Pellegrini's caricature exaggerates the broad, ruddy face and heavy-lidded eyes. The single-word caption, Austria, neatly reduces a career diplomat to the empire he served, a Vanity Fair shorthand that flatters and diminishes simultaneously.