Elector Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous

Elector Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous

Title

Elector Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous

[cda 2018]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 162]

Bust-length portrait of Johann Friedrich I of Saxony (1503-1554), called the Magnanimous, against a blue background, facing to the right.

Attribution
Master I.S.

Attribution

Master I.S.

[Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, revised 2018] [Cat. Coburg 2018, 162]

Production date
about 1560

Production date

about 1560

[Teget-Welz 2018, 220, 225] [Cat. Coburg 2018, 162]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 50 x 36 x 0.86 cm (original thickness)/ 2.46 cm (including horizontal battens)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 50 x 36 x 0.86 cm (original thickness)/ 2.46 cm (including horizontal battens)

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 162]

Signature / Dating

Monogram in the top left corner: 'IS' (linked)

Signature / Dating

  • Monogram in the top left corner: 'IS' (linked)

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 162]

Inscriptions and Labels

none - at the centre, handwritten: 'Johan Friedrich/ Churfürsdt zu Sachsen/ vor seinem aelter'

  • label: HKA
    [Cat. Coburg 2018, …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • none

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

    • at the centre, handwritten: 'Johan Friedrich/ Churfürsdt zu Sachsen/ vor seinem aelter'
    • label: HKA

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 162]

Owner
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Repository
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Location
Coburg
CDA ID
DE_KSVC_M030
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M030/

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 162, 163 32 Pl. p. 163
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. 11
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. 004 (17)
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]

  • Elector Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, about 1560

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • reverse

Technical studies

2018Technical Examination

Support

- beech wood

- two vertically aligned and butt-joined planks. Plank I: 6.6 cm; plank II: 29.7 cm. the join is covered with tow. At the edges the join has opened (from the top 11 cm, from the bottom 3 cm). It has been partially reglued at the top. the edges of the support are sloped. The panel was smoothed with a plane. Two horizontal battens (each 3.3 cm in width) have been glued to the reverse. there are remnants of the chalk ground along the top and bottom edges.

Ground and Imprimatura

- chalk ground

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 162]

Condition Reports

Date2018

Support:

  • the join has opened at the edges (from the top 11cm, from the bottom 3 cm). It has been partially reglued.

  • two horizontal battens (each 3.3 cm in width) have been glued to the reverse of the panel. The edges have a new coating in some sections.

Paint layers:

  • fine craquelé. Areas of the flesh paint (beard, hands) as well as the fur-trimming are abraded to varying degrees.

  • there are drips in the left section of the painting. Small losses in the right side of the face have been retouched. Larger losses are visible in the area of the hands. The join has been filled and retouched at the top and bottom. It has begun to reopen slightly at the top. There is abrasion along the edges of the panel caused by the frame.

Varnish:

  • the varnish has been thinned, there is a large drip at the top left.

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 162]

Conservation History

Date1959

Restored and cradled

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 162]

  • conservation treatment by Josef Wuttke

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Elector Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M030/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Elector Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M030/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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