1543
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Portrait of John Frederick I, "The Magnanimous," Elector of Saxony is a 1543 by Georg Pencz, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This is a black-and-white portrait of a man in fancy clothes. He’s wearing a fur-lined robe, a chain around his neck, and a crown on his head. His hands rest on a helmet and a sword. Around the picture are lots of small shields with different designs. The text at the bottom gives his name and titles, like "Elector of Saxony." The artist used careful shading to make the face and clothes look three-dimensional. Look up chiaroscuro to see how artists use light and shadow like this.
Georg Pencz (c. 1500 – 11 October 1550) was a German engraver, painter and printmaker. Pencz was probably born in Westheim near Bad Windsheim/Franconia. He travelled to Nuremberg in 1523 and joined Albrecht Dürer’s…
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![John Frederic the Magnanimous, in Electoral Robes [right]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/eb7137bb5d2f9f23/thumb.webp)
