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DiaporamaJohann George IV, Elector of Saxony
balthasar permoser (1651 – 1732)
Balthasar Permoser (1651-1732) was a leading Baroque & Rococo sculptor renowned for dynamic garden sculptures, ornate details at Dresden's Zwinger Palace, and the 'Apotheosis of Prince Eugene.' Explore his legacy!
The sitter, wearing a broadly flowing allonge wig, makes both a self-confident and a distrustful, morose impression. The half-length portrait shows Johann George IV (1668–1694), elder brother of August the Strong, who described him as “wrathful and melancholy”. Proclaimed Elector in 1691, he died only a few years later at the age of just twenty-six. On the lower edge of the relief are the initials of Balthasar Permoser, who was appointed court sculptor in Dresden in 1689. Only a few of his portrait medallions have survived. The Berlin piece evidences his exquisite mastery of his art: though the relief is extremely shallow, Permoser’s portrait of the Elector achieves a highly nuanced, and at the same time generously conceived, multi-layered account of the sitter’s individual nature.
About this artwork
- Title: Johann George IV, Elector of Saxony
- Artist: balthasar permoser
- Year: 1691
- Original dimensions: 8.0 x 10.0 cm
- Format: Portrait
- Copyright status: Public domain
- Creative period: Mature Baroque
- Corpus context: religious authority , dynastic power
- Keywords: dark brown frame , german renaissance art , 17th century art
- Color hue: Blue-Violet to Rose
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