Peter Nason is one of the major Dutch portraitists. He was admitted to St. Luke Guild of the Hague in 1639. The artist painted mainly portraits of merchants and aristocrats; this painting depicts the son of George William, Elector of Brandenburg. Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg (1620-1688), a member of The House of Hohenzollern, the founder of Prussia, known the Grand Elector because of his enormous deeds. When Friedrich Wilhelm became an elector in 1640 at the age of twenty, his lands were devastated by the Thirty Year War, occupied or ravaged by foreign troops.
The Great Elector managed to establish a centralized state system and a standing army. At the same time, he showed interest in art and science, collecting rare and outlandish items from different countries. By the end of his life, his library had over 20,000 volumes of books and more than 1,600 manuscripts. Friedrich Wilhelm opened his library in 1661 for scholars and government officials. It marked the beginning of the Berlin State Library. The natural-scientific collection, art gallery, and numismatic study owned by the Elector were the basis of Berlin’s museums. Friedrich Wilhelm personally laid a Botanical Garden in his capital.
This portrait is painted in 1666 when his hero was forty-six years old. Peter Nason was specially invited to Berlin to create a parade image of the monarch. The artist went in for his favorite composition here: he depicted the Elector on the background of a heavy curtain with golden tassels. You can see the majestic building and landscape behind him. This background emphasizes the solemnity of the portrait.
The Elector is depicted in the armor worn at parade exits and solemn ceremonies. He is dressed in a red velvet mantle, trimmed with ermine fur. The image of a sword on the belt and the Elector’s hat, which is a kind of rank headgear lying on the table on the left, completes the image.
The portrait was donated to the museum by Elena Grechenina’s will in 1974. Besides this masterpiece, she bequeathed to the museum paintings by Dutch and Flemish masters, Russian glass and porcelain objects, Bohemian glass, and furniture.
The Great Elector managed to establish a centralized state system and a standing army. At the same time, he showed interest in art and science, collecting rare and outlandish items from different countries. By the end of his life, his library had over 20,000 volumes of books and more than 1,600 manuscripts. Friedrich Wilhelm opened his library in 1661 for scholars and government officials. It marked the beginning of the Berlin State Library. The natural-scientific collection, art gallery, and numismatic study owned by the Elector were the basis of Berlin’s museums. Friedrich Wilhelm personally laid a Botanical Garden in his capital.
This portrait is painted in 1666 when his hero was forty-six years old. Peter Nason was specially invited to Berlin to create a parade image of the monarch. The artist went in for his favorite composition here: he depicted the Elector on the background of a heavy curtain with golden tassels. You can see the majestic building and landscape behind him. This background emphasizes the solemnity of the portrait.
The Elector is depicted in the armor worn at parade exits and solemn ceremonies. He is dressed in a red velvet mantle, trimmed with ermine fur. The image of a sword on the belt and the Elector’s hat, which is a kind of rank headgear lying on the table on the left, completes the image.
The portrait was donated to the museum by Elena Grechenina’s will in 1974. Besides this masterpiece, she bequeathed to the museum paintings by Dutch and Flemish masters, Russian glass and porcelain objects, Bohemian glass, and furniture.
