Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine
Johann Friedrich Ardin
This portrait of the elector of the Palatinate can be attributed to Johann Friedrich Ardin.1 He created an impressive number of enamel miniatures of the Palatine ruler,2 skilfully integrating the head from portraits by other artists into his own compositions (cf. 10050). The type shown here is known from two other works by Ardin – one in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm,3 and one in the collection belonging to the British queen.4 The piece in Stockholm shows the model with his order in full view along with more of his elector’s hat.
Johann Wilhelm of the Palatinate (1658–1716) became ruler upon the death of his father in 1690. He was an art-lover and employed many artists at his court in Düsseldorf, some of them renowned figures – for example the architect Alberti, the sculptor Grupello, and the painters van der Werff, van der Neer, van Douven, Weenix, Zanetti and Bellucci. Alongside Ardin, other enamellists also served Johann Wilhelm. Some of the most gifted were Peter Boy and Charles Boit (cf. 11049). It is thanks to Johann Wilhelm that Düsseldorf developed into a unique centre of the arts in the early 18th century. His extensive collection of paintings later found its way to the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, and his miniatures to the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum.
B. P.