Leseprobe

138 Elector Christian I of Saxony Carlo di Cesare del Palagio Florence 1540–1598 Mantua 1592/93 Bronze; height 69.3 cm (without pedestal) First mentioned in the 1610 inventory of the Kunstkammer Inv. no. H4 1/3 Christian I of Saxony (1560 –1591) was the only son of nine to survive his father, Elector August, when he died in 1586. Christian had a passion for the arts, which he recognized as an important instrument for denoting status and rank. Upon becoming elector, he received several small bronzes by Giambologna (pp. 134 and 135) presented as gifts from Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, as well as from the artist himself. The gifts obviously inspired the Saxon elector to promptly send his court architect Giovanni Maria Nosseni to Florence, with the task of enlisting Italian artists for his ambitious projects. Nosseni succeeded in engaging Carlo di Cesare del Palagio, a student of Giambologna, who arrived in Saxony in 1590, where he remained for three years, executing primarely a great number of sculptures to decorate the funeral chapel for the House of Wettin in Freiberg Cathedral. Among them are 22 bronze figures, including five life-sized statues of Christian’s parents and grandparents, and the elector himself. Due to Christian’s early death, the mausoleum in Freiberg was realized only in reduced form, and in 1593 Carlo relocated to Munich on invitation of the court there. But before departing, he executed this portrait bust for Christian’s widow, which bears a strong resemblance to the portrait statue of the elector in Freiberg. Because he is depicted there in ‘perpetual adoration’, Christian appears dignified and aus- tere, so that the eye is captivated above all by the intricate rendering of his ar- mour.  |  ckg