Christophe Steiger was the son of Christophe Steiger (1651-1731), magistrate and politician and Anna Catharina Berseth (b.1664). Born in Bern at the family home Tschugg Manor in 1694, he served as an officer with the Swiss forces in the Netherlands, later joining the Reismusketen Rifle Company of Bern as a Captain. He married his cousin Veronica Steiger in 1720 and continued the family tradition of becoming actively involved in the politics of Bern, ultimately running the Canton, like his father and relatives before him. But it is as a young officer of just 17 ½ years of age that we see him in the portrait presented here, depicted as a soldier and nobleman glad in breastplate, embroided coat and elegant wig. The inscription and dates of the sitter suggest the artist worked on this portrait around the summer of 1711, possibly just before he ventured to the Netherlands to engage the French in the last years of the War of the Spanish Succession.

Born into one of the oldest ruling families of the canton, Christoph descended from
the so-called “black” Steiger family of Bern, so called because of the black ibex on the family coat-of-arms. A politically dominant element in the Bernese patriciate, family members served in various government offices for over 250 years. Anna Catharina Steiger (1680-1729), sister to Christoph married Beat Rodolphe Fischer (1668-1714) in 1697.

Johannes Steiger (1523 – 1577), a tailor first settled in Bern in the early 16th century but it was his two sons who both served on Bernese councils that eventually led to future generations becoming part of the ruling elite. A large family, by the late 18th century, the Bernese government was fairly saturated with Steigers, it being recorded that in 1796, they were predominant on the councils with a total of twenty-two members. The family gave to the Canton of Bern three Chief Magistrates (rulers), five treasurers, three Knights and numerous bailiffs, counsellors and officers. The baronies which the “black” Steigers owned were Montricher and Monnaz, both in Vaud, and numerous estates in the neighborhood of Bern, the most important being the Berseth estates at Tschugg, which was their main residence. The ultimate accolade for the family came in 1714, when the title of Baron and a coat-of-arms was bestowed by Frederick William I, King of Prussia to Christoph Steiger (1651-1731) for having adjudicated the King the lawful ruler of Neuchâtel after Marie d’Orléans-Longueville, Duchess de Nemours left no heir.

Joseph Rudolf Huber appears to have been a favourite choice of artist for Christoph Steiger, Snr; over a period of time he had a number of relatives painted, the portrait of his son here being one of a group that once adorned the walls of the family home Tschugg Manor. The major landholder in the village of Tschugg was the local noble family of Berseth, the manor first being mentioned in 1358 along with its attached vineyards. In 1678 the Berseth heiress Anna Catharina married Christoph Snr. and the Steiger family acquired the entire estate and village. In the following century they rebuilt the house into a grand country manor, which came to be known as the Landsitz Steiger. These portraits along with others were sold by the last owner of the manor Frederic de Steiger in 1875, with the estate being sold in September 1879.

Huber was apprentice to Johann Caspar Meyer (1645-1705 ) in Basel, his home town and then Joseph Werner ( 1637-1710 ) in Bern . Showing an early aptitude he left in 1687 to study in Italy, travelling across the country to Milan , Mantua, Parma, Piacenza , Bologna, Venice, Florence and finally Rome. In Venice, he found employment with the resident Dutch master Cavaliere Tempesta (1637-1701), assisting with landscapes and maritime works, whilst painting portraits on the side including the Doge Francesco Morosini and Augustus the Strong , the art-loving Elector of Saxony. In 1689 he joined the Roman Art Academy and became a pupil of Carlo Maratta. Returning to Basel, by way of France, he was elected to the city’s grand Council in 1694. Around this time he encountered the exile Friedrich Magnus VII of Baden-Durlach for whom he worked on no less than twenty-two family portraits over the summer and autumn of 1694. Two years later he received the patronage of Duke Eberhard IV Ludwig of Württemberg , undertaking significant portrait commissions and ceiling paintings for his castle in Stuttgart.

In 1702 Huber settled in Bern where there was much demand amongst the aristocracy and gentry for a portrait painter of his talents. As well as capturing a noble and often flattering likeness his time in Italy brought a colour and lightness of touch to his works. This easy baroque style made him the most sought after portrait painter in Switzerland in the first quarter of the 18th century and certainly it’s most prolific. Also his work still took him frequently to southern Germany where his influence was considerable. Such was his popularity it has been suggested that he finished over 3000 portraits, though this is probably an exaggeration as far fewer appear to have survived. His art in many respects echoes the ideas of the great High Renaissance masters of Italy and the court painters to Louis XIV, Charles Le Brun and Pierre Mignard. He painted individual and group portraits, vistas, historical and mythological compositions and in addition to large-sized decorative pieces also gouaches, drawings and miniatures. His work is well represented in the galleries and museums in Switzerland as well as private collections