Code: 10180
Dimensions:
HANS LIEFRINCK I Antwerp or Augsburg 1514/15 – 1573 Antwerp
Johann Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, on horseback.
Woodcut with hand coloring; c. 1547. Although clearly part of Liefrinck’s series of woodcuts Princes and Princesses after Cornelis Anthonisz (see New Hollstein Dutch and Flemish, The Liefrinck Dynasty, part I), this is apparently unique. The hand coloring matches exactly the character of the other sheets in the series.
Watermark: High Crown, similar to Piccard VIII, 61 (datable c. 1546, 1541-47) and Piccard IX. 34, 35, 36 (datable 1529-1548).
Liefrinck’s prints constitute an extremely broad artistic production, including both intaglio prints and woodcuts. It is fair to say that these grand woodcuts with hand coloring, to which our sheet belongs, are among Liefrinck’s most impressive works.
It may be that our woodcut is a lost sheet, related to Liefrinck’s portrait of Johann Frederick, full length, New Hollstein 53. In our equestrian portrait of Johann Frederick, he apparently bears a scar on his left cheek. Johann Frederick received a wound on his cheek in the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547. As he wears armor in our woodcut, strongly suggesting his military activity, the print may have made after he received that wound in 1547.
380 x 295 mm 14 15/16 x 11 5/8 inches
