Duke Johann Ernst I. of Saxony-Coburg

Duke Johann Ernst I. of Saxony-Coburg

Title

Duke Johann Ernst I. of Saxony-Coburg

[cda 2018]

Painting on limewood

Medium

Painting on limewood

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

Bust-length portrait of Johann Ernst I, Duke of Saxony-Coburg (1521-1553) against a blue background, facing to the left.

Attribution
Master I.S.

Attribution

Master I.S.

[Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, revised 2018] [Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

Production date
about 1560

Production date

about 1560

[Teget-Welz 2018, 223, 225] [Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 49.7 x 36.4 x 0.8 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 49.7 x 36.4 x 0.8 cm

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

Signature / Dating

Monogram at the left edge above the sitter's sleeve: 'IS' (linked)

Signature / Dating

  • Monogram at the left edge above the sitter's sleeve: 'IS' (linked)

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

Inscriptions and Labels
  • top right, italics: 'Herz. Johann Ernst'
    [Cat. Coburg 2018, 166] Reverse: upper frame member: handwritten: 'johan Friedrich Chur …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • top right, italics: 'Herz. Johann Ernst'

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse: upper frame member: handwritten: 'johan Friedrich Chur Fürst zu Sachsen' (illegible)

  • Reverse of the panel, top:

  • handwritten illegible inscription and '22'

  • adhesive label HKA and label KVC

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

Owner
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Repository
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Location
Coburg
CDA ID
DE_KSVC_M026
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M026/

Provenance

  • this painting is one of a series originally from Gotha and belonged to the original art cabinet established by Duke Ernst the Pious, the patriarch of the Ernestine Saxony-Gotha family line and ordered that Friedenstein castle be built
  • an inventory from 1638 lists the paintings in the lower salon of the residency in Weimar
  • 1644 listed in the 'Taffelstuben' of the 'Gothaer Kaufhaus'
  • 1656 listed in the earliest surviving inventory from Friedenstein castle 'Inventarium über die Kunst Cammer'
  • removed from Friedenstein castle sometime between 1856 and 1876; the painting was last recorded in Gotha in Georg Rathgeber's 'Beschreibung der Herzoglichen Gemälde-Gallerie zu Gotha [...]' [1835] as part of a series then consisting of 27 portraits
    [Teget-Welz 2018, 210, 211]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Coburg 2018 157, 166, 167 34; under no. 29 Pl. p. 165
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleCranach in Coburg. Gemälde von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Lucas Cranach d.J., der Werkstatt und des Umkreises in den Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Show Literature
Teget-Welz 2018 209-228 Fig. 27
AuthorManuel Teget-Welz
TitleVon Gotha in die Ganze Welt. Die Fürstenserie des Monogrammisten IS
Publicationin Klaus Weschenfelder, ed., Cranach in Coburg. Gemälde von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Lucas Cranach d.J., der Werkstatt und des Umkreises in den Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Pages209-228
Show Literature
Weschenfelder 2018 A 14, 18
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleCranach in Coburg.
Publicationin Klaus Weschenfelder, ed., Cranach in Coburg. Gemälde von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Lucas Cranach d.J., der Werkstatt und des Umkreises in den Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Pages7-23
Show Literature
Rathgeber 1835 191 f. 021
AuthorGeorg Rathgeber
TitleBeschreibung der Herzoglichen Gemälde-Galerie zu Gotha
Place of PublicationGotha
Year of Publication1835
Link https://dhb.thulb.uni-jena.de/receive/ufb_cbu_00011801
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

A series of portraits depicting noble men by the monogrammist IS. These paintings were without doubt originally conceived as a series. This theory is supported by various visual clues, including their similar dimensions and uniform backgrounds. In addition all the sitters are shown as half-length figures in three quarter profile with their hands positioned in front of their bodies. Six of the portraits are signed with the monogram IS. The series was probably created about 1560.

[Teget-Welz 2018, 209]

  • Duke Johann Ernst I. of Saxony-Coburg, about 1560

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • reverse

Documents

Technical studies

2018Technical Examination

Support

- limewood

- two vertically aligned and butt-joined planks. Plank I: 18.2 cm; plank II: 18.2 cm. At the top and bottom the planks are joined with dovetail inserts. All four edges are grooved and there is no indication that they were sloped. The horizontal battens have been removed, but traces of the glue is still visible. Along the top and bottom edges traces of the chalk ground are visible, particularly on the reverse at the right.

Ground and Imprimatura

- chalk ground

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

Condition Reports

Date2018

Support:

  • the horizontal battens have been removed, but traces of the glue are still visible

Paint layers:

  • the surface exhibits a fine craquelé; areas of the fur-trimming are abraded

  • the exit holes and losses along the bottom edge have been filled and retouched (particularly in the hands and the right corner)

  • abrasion caused by the frame along the edges

Varnish:

  • the varnish on the open join at the top, the right shoulder and in the area of filled and retouched exit holes has been thinned.

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

Conservation History

Date1970

Restored

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

  • conservation treatment by Richard Harzenetter

Date1959

Restored and cradled

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 166]

  • conservation treatment by Josef Wuttke

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Duke Johann Ernst I. of Saxony-Coburg', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M026/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Duke Johann Ernst I. of Saxony-Coburg', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M026/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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