Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

Johann Christian Fiedler, born in Pirna, initially studied law and then took up painting miniatures. After completing his artistic education in Paris he returned to Germany. He became court painter to Ernest Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt and after the latter’s death in 1739 under his son and successor Louis VIII, whose great esteem he enjoyed. Fiedler created numerous portraits in oil as well as miniatures of Louis VIII (1691-1768).¹

The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt had resulted from the division of Hesse between the sons of Philip I the Magnanimous, and comprised Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Marburg and Hesse-Rheinfels the southern part of the region. Louis VIII was married to Countess Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau, heiress to the last Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg, incorporating Hesse-Darmstadt into this sovereignty.

The miniature executed in a delicate pointillé style shows the landgrave with abreast plate and a ceremonial staff, while his magnificent helmet rests on a red cloth. Louis was a passionate huntsman. The hunting camp at Romrod in the Vogelsberg region, already equipped for his father’s hunting visits, was used by Louis VIII as a lavish princely summer camp. He used the hunting lodge at Kranichstein as well, where the landgrave's hunting trophies are still kept today. There isa unique collection of air rifles, precursors of the later airguns, to which Louis VIII was particularly partial. The horsemen hinted at in the miniature’s background might belong to a course, in a reference to the landgrave’s passion for hunting.
J. S. O