Porträt Christian Wilhelm von Brandenburg (1587-1665)

Portrait of Christian Wilhelm von Brandenburg. In this view, the former Margrave of Brandenburg is shown as a chest pattern to the right in the half profile. His gaze rests on the viewer He wears no wig, but an artfully made hairstyle and a beard. Around his neck he has a very eye-catching neck of lace, which fits well with his embroidery camel, over which he wears a sash. The effigy is oval, an encircling inscription decorates the frame. Below it appears on a bright surface a Latin saying: "Augustus Musas, caput orbis, amavit; amantem Musarum redamant lumina, laude vehunt. Hoc Duce nunc oculi vitae, fontesq. Bonorum, Hoc nitet Aula, nitet Curia, Templa nitent." Christian Wilhelm von Brandenburg was elected as the postulated administrator of the Archbishop Magdeburg at the age of ten, but was only able to take office at the age of 21. From 1608 to 1631 he was administrator of Magdeburg, in 1624 he also became administrator of Halberstadt. In the Thirty Years' War, he fought on the front and took command of a Lower Saxony army in 1626. A defeat against Wallenstein resulted in his removal as administrator. The leaf was executed as a copper engraving by the Augsburg stecher Wolfgang Kilian and laid in Nuremberg. As a template, Kilian certainly chose a engraving by Matthäus Merian, whom he moved in 1633 in Frankfurt a.M. in his “Theatrum Europaeum.” The dating of the sheet is rather difficult: the Gleimhaus in Halberstadt dates back to 1660, while the art collections of the Veste Coburg are from 1624 to 1662. Other copies of the paper can be found in the Austrian National Library Vienna and the British Museum in London. Signature: Wolf. Kilian. sculp. et exc. Label: [medallion] REVERENDISS. AC. SERENISS. PRINCEPS. ET. DOM. DN. CHRISTIAN. WILHELMVS. POSTVL. ADMINISTRSTR. ARCHIEPISCOPTVS. MAGDEBVRG. PRIMAS. GERMANIAE. COADIVT. EPISC. HALF WAY. MARCHIO. FIRE. PRVSS. MI. CLIV. MON. THE POMER. CASSUB. VAND. CROSS. DVX. BURGR, etc. NORIMB. PRIN. JUG. COM. MARC. ET. RAVENSP. DN. IN. RAVENST. Augustus Musas, caput orbis, amavit; amantem musarum redamant lumina, laude vehunt. Hoc Duce nunc oculi vitae, fontesq. Bonorum, Hoc nitet Aula, nitet Curia, Templa nitent. (delHändel-Haus Halle Foundation)