Johann Friedrich I, the Magnanimous, Elector of Saxony

It is questionable whether or not the portraits were created for a particular occasion: the date of creation '1535' located next to the signature is both the year of the birth and death of Johann Ernst, one of the pairs sons. In 1535 Johann Friedrich also acheived some success within the context of his strained relationship with the Habsburgs being officially granted electoral dignity by King Ferdinand on behalf of the emperor, and at the end of the year a federal convention took place for the Schmalkaldic League. There were therefore numerous official occasions for which such a double portrait may have been used and here as was frequently the case with Cranach portraits for the Ernestine court it is a variation of particular pictorial type. This is illustrated by the comparision with a double portrait in the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen dated to 1533 and of an almost identical size, but exhibiting a slight variation in the attire and the position of the arms. The Gotha portraits were not subsequently used as a gift to a foreign party. It is more likely that they were used within the family to illustrate the dynastic descent as they can be traced back to the collection of Ernst the Pious of Saxony-Gotha and Altenburg, the greatgrandson of the sitters.

[Sebatian Dohe, in Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015, 258]