Gentleman in a cuirass and ermine cloak

Although not signed, this enamel portrait can be attributed to the little-known but decidedly gifted Genevan enamel painter Johann Friedrich Ardin.¹ The sitter presents himself as a man of the upper class. He is wearing a cuirass, with a cloak draped over his shoulder and a powdered along wig.
Difficulties in identifying the gentleman have already been encountered in the past. At times the sitter was thought to be Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, and on other occasions was identified as Max Emanuel of Bavaria.² The cloak’s purple colour and ermine trim do however suggest the model was of princely origin. When the portrait was painted, Ardin was in the service of the Elector Palatine as an enamel painter at the court in Düsseldorf, and alongside the elector and his wife he also painted portraits of many other family members (cf. 10033 and 10050).³ The series shows parents, brothers and sisters, children and other relatives of the couple. Yet none of these works matches the portrait shown here. The same young man can be recognised in three enamels that are identical except for minor details, also painted by Ardin.⁴
B. P.