Johann Friedrich II of Saxony

Johann Friedrich II of Saxony

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 168]

Bust-length portrait of Johann Friedrich II of Saxony (1529-1595), called the Middle, 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, 168]

Dating
about 1560

Dating

about 1560

[Teget-Welz 2018, 222, 225] [Cat. Coburg 2018, 168]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 46.5 x 33.8 x 0.8 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 46.5 x 33.8 x 0.8 cm

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 168]

Signature / Dating

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

Signature / Dating

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

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 168]

Inscriptions

none

Inscriptions

Inscriptions:

  • none

Labels

Reverse of the panel: - handwritten (old): 'Johann Friedrich der/ Mittlere'
- ahesive label: HKA and KVC
[Cat. …

Labels

later inscription, stamps, seals, labels:

  • Reverse of the panel: - handwritten (old): 'Johann Friedrich der/ Mittlere'

  • - ahesive label: HKA and KVC

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 168]

Owner
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Repository
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Location
Coburg
CDA ID
DE_KSVC_M029
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M029/

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 168, 169 35 Pl. p. 169
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. 20
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. 013
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]

  • Johann Friedrich II of Saxony, about 1560

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • reverse

Download illustration

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Technical studies

2018Technical Examination

Support

- beech wood

- two vertically aligned and butt-joined planks; width (on the reverse from the right) plank I: 3.0 cm; plank II: 30.8 cm. The join is cover with tow. About 9 cm of the join had opened at the bottom and was reglued. All the edges are sloped. The panel was smoothed with a plane. Splashes of chalk ground and paint are visible on the reverse. The panel does not appear to have been thinned (the tow application is probably original). Two horizontal battens (each 3.5 cm in width) were glued to the reverse.

Ground and Imprimatura

- chalk ground

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 168]

Condition Reports

Date2018

Support:

- c. 9 cm of the join had opened at the bottom and has been reglued

- two horizontal battens (each 3.5 cm in width) have been glued to the reverse

Paint layers:

- fine craquelé, the left half of the face (excluding the ear), the forehead, the sleeves at the bottom edge, the open join and the edges have been covered with fill material and retouched (overpainted); the surface has been cleaned at least twice. A brown glaze was applied at a later stage to the fur-trimming (to reintegrate areas of abrasion). There are varnish drips visible in the upper section of the panel as well as above the chain (chest). The frame has caused abrasion along the edges.

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 168]

Conservation History

Date1959

Restored and cradled

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 168]

  • conservation treatment by Josef Wuttke

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Johann Friedrich II of Saxony', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M029/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Johann Friedrich II of Saxony', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M029/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

Help us to improve the Cranach Digital Archive.

Please contact us, if you have noticed a mistake.