Coronation mantle of August the Strong

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August the Strong, King of Poland in the coronation mantle
( Louis de Silvestre (1675–1760), undated)

Elector Friedrich August I of Saxony (1670–1733) wore the coronation cloak of August the Strong when he was crowned King August II of Poland in Krakow in September 1697 . August is considered to be one of the most dazzling figures of courtly splendor of the late 17th and early 18th centuries and a prototype of absolutist self-expression. To commemorate his coronation, he had a “royal statue” erected, a figurine on which contemporary copies of the coronation insignia and the coronation mantle were exhibited.

A copy of the coat and the bust with the face of August is shown today in the picture cabinet of the Dresden Residenzschloss . The original coat has been restored and archived after a special exhibition.

General

A coronation, prince or king mantle is a traditional, representative, usually sleeveless piece of clothing worn by heads of state. It was almost always decorated with ermine fur. The ermine was said to be of such “purity” that it “would rather run through fire than into something unclean”. These ideas probably caused ermine fur to be used only for the clothing of the very highest dignitaries for centuries, although there were and are many far more valuable types of fur . Ermine is generally considered to be the fur of emperors and kings. In England, King Edward III proclaimed . around the middle of the 14th century the ermine to the royal fur. The attached ermine tails with their black tail tips ("spotted" ermine) are characteristic of the fur as a symbol of status. As a heraldic fur work , the stylized ermine also appears as a rank or symbol of power in the coats of arms of many royal houses.

The prince's or royal mantle made of velvet is a cloak trimmed with ermine and usually also lined with hermelin, a shape that emerged from the cloak used by the upper classes at the time. Velvet has been the preferred material for sumptuous robes since the end of the Middle Ages . Since the middle of the 12th century, the fashion for these sleeveless coats favored fur linings and trimmings, and ermine gradually became the chosen fur of princely persons, as well as for the highest clerical dignitaries. In the early 14th century the shoulder-width fur collar was added; is also set with ermine, it is characteristic of the princely coat in the future, especially when the wide collar shape disappeared from general fashion in the 15th century.

Augustus the Strong was often painted in regalia with a velvet coat, without the pattern or without a fur collar, but always with an ermine lining.

coronation

In order to gain the dignity of a Polish king, August I, Elector and Duke of Saxony, switched from the Evangelical Lutheran denomination to Catholicism. In order to get the Polish nobility to agree, he is said to have spent 39 million Reichstaler, largely financed by credit, ultimately raised by the inhabitants of Saxony. The Duke's wife Christiane Eberhardine had refused the Polish royal dignity and kept her evangelical creed. The coronation ceremony took place on September 15, 1697 in the Wawel Cathedral of the Krakow Castle without his wife, who had refused to go with them.

According to the later exhibition of the coronation regalia, the future king wore red silk stockings, a two-piece Roman apron (tunic) and lace-up boots of the Roman style in addition to the fur-trimmed cape Represent the role of Roman emperors. The aprons were one of the first components of the coronation figurine Augustus the Strong, which he had put up in the paill chamber of the armory immediately after the coronation. In addition, there were the coronation insignia, the Polish royal crown, the scepter and the imperial orb . There was also a silver-plated saber with an eagle's pommel and stones. In the later Figurine he carried under his cloak a bare iron chest cuirass , with whom he has also been mapped to a number of paintings. This cuirass was originally blackened and was worn by August the Strong during his Hungarian campaign in 1695/96. For the coronation, the blackened iron was polished bright. The cuirass was part of the exhibited coronation figurine until 1702. In the wake of the Northern War , before the Battle of Pinczow, it was replaced by a bare foot tournament armor and delivered to Kraków.

Friedrich August's regalia was so heavy that he struggled to survive the coronation ceremony. In contemporary paintings, the royal cloak is not only trimmed with fur, but, as is probably the case with most of the coronation robes of other rulers, lined with ermine. A confirmation of this was not found during the last restoration.

The coat

Figurine August II of Poland in coronation regalia (copy)
Order of the Elephants (not the original)

The future King of Poland designed his coronation regalia himself. The sleeveless coronation gown is made of heavy dark blue velvet. In the meantime, it has been shortened and now has a diameter of 250 × 272 centimeters. In the repeat it is decorated with eight different gold brooched flower motifs, a relief embroidery by Andreas Scheider, Saxony. The front edge is followed by a narrow ermine trimming that ends at the short train. Around the neckline is a shoulder collar made of white rabbit fur, originally made of ermine. On the outer edge, like the ermine trimmings on the coat, it has the usual decoration with black-tipped ermine tails. The lower ermine coat end, which was no longer present, was straight and curved at the top. On the basis of seam impressions, 14 arches per side of the former hem decoration were still detectable, with a depth of 8 centimeters and a height of 16 centimeters.

On the left side of the coat is the silver star of the Danish Elephant Order at chest height . The lining is a silver, lampas-like fabric of French origin.

At a costume party in February 1730, August the Strong appeared as a furrier , dressed from head to toe in ermine. The furrier or court tailor who carried out the work does not seem to have been mentioned in the literature either for this curious costume or for the coronation gown made of ermine.

History, restoration

The coat, which was exhibited during August the Strong's lifetime, was initially placed in the paill chamber of the Dresden armory. The armory was moved to the “Secret War Chancellery” in 1722 and remained there until 1832. It was later transferred to the “War Chancellery” together with the coat. Around 1815 the coat was kept in a cupboard in the provincial coat of arms room and was probably shown there, along with scepter and orb. During the Second World War, the coat was outsourced and was therefore preserved. On the 200th anniversary of August the Great's death in 1933, it was exhibited on the corresponding figurine. From 1959 to 1988, when the Historical Museum was temporarily closed for reconstruction, the figurine and coronation cloak including the iron cuirass and the insignia were on permanent display.

On the occasion of a special exhibition of the History Museum "Electors of Saxony - Representation in Images and Armaments" from August 31, 1991 to February 13, 1992 in the Dresden Residenzschloss, the textile restoration workshop at the City Museum was commissioned to recondition the coronation coat. The coat had suffered a lot from natural aging and the long exposure; the intense light had faded the color. The silver weft threads of the lining were loose on the back (" flott "), the fur had become gray and dull and the part was generally soiled.

Now the assumption was confirmed that the coat had been changed in the meantime and no longer corresponded to the original appearance. Compared to other coronation coats, the train was relatively short. It could still be seen that the now straight hem with ermine trimmings originally ended with a curved ornament. The shoulder collar was no longer made of ermine, but had been replaced by rabbit fur . On the basis of the mercerized cotton yarn used for the furrier seams during the change in the meantime, it can be determined that the current fur trim was only attached after 1844. It is assumed that the coat was “revised” in 1876 before it was exhibited in the newly opened Dresden Historical Museum.

Before the coat was presented on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of August the Strong, a few minor repairs had been made. For example, damaged areas were in lining Bobinet covered -Tüll, cracks in Velvet were behind sticks, damaged areas filled and touched up different seams. The buckle fastener was exchanged for a simple tie fastener, but remained in the magazine and was later exchanged again.

For the special exhibition at that time and for further storage, a frame was developed that takes the weight off the shoulders and distributes it onto the coat. During the exhibition, the coat was protected by a glass showcase and the light was reduced to a low level of illuminance.

Since the restoration project, which began in 2008, was supposed to preserve the original seams, but the desolate velvet could no longer be rolled, the fabric strips of the coat and the lining were divided in order to cope with the work. The unsightly stuffing and gluing points have been removed. The loose dirt was vacuumed off, the stiffened brooching and the fur carefully dabbed off with solvents and cotton swabs. Only the lining was dry cleaned after removing the tulle cover. The silver thread and the star were not treated. In order to relieve the cloak on the figurine, the cloak was pinned to a color-coordinated cotton fabric.

Copy

At the end of the 1990s, the government of Saxony decided to rebuild the royal parade rooms of the Dresden Royal Palace, which had been completely destroyed in the Second World War. About 300 handicraft businesses from all over Europe took part in the restoration of the stucco ceilings, ceiling paintings, tapestries and textiles with their gold embroidery and trimmings, as true to the original as possible.

For the exhibition of the coronation mantle, a copy of the coronation mantle that was as true to the original as possible was created, as the restorers had urgently advised against exhibiting the original for a longer period due to the severe damage.

After submitting work samples, the master furrier Thomas Margenberg from Meissen was commissioned with the production of the ermine fur. The work was carried out by him, together with his father Peter Margenberg and his colleagues, from autumn 2018 to March 2019 in his workshop in Riesa .

177 ermine furs of Russian origin and 16 meters of hand-woven velvet were needed to make the coat. The aim was to create the coat as true to the original as possible. "We even incorporated the mistakes from back then in order to come as close as possible to the original," explained Margenberg.

  • Making the ermine trimmings
  • Coronation mantle August the Strong, restoration (7) .jpg
  • Coronation mantle August the Strong, restoration (5) .jpg
  • Coronation mantle August the Strong, restoration (2) .jpg
  • Coronation mantle August the Strong, restoration (8) .jpg

Figurine

The coronation mantle on display achieved its full effect by hanging on a life-size figurine with a waxy head with a wig and shaped legs, shaped like a living mask. It shows the ruler with the facial features at the age of 34. On January 26, 1704, the art shaper and organist of the Dresden Kreuzkirche, Emanuel Benisch, had removed the mask from the king. One hundred years later, the Meißner modeler Christian Gottfried Jüchner made a plaster cast, which was tinted in true-to-life color and inserted into the eyes.

All parts shown on it are said to have been laid out by August the Strong for the coronation ceremony in the castle church.

Today's figurine of the Saxon ruler is reproduced from the missing original from the 18th century.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cornelia Hofmann, Birgit Tradler: The coronation mantle of August the Strong - restoration and exhibition . In: Restauro No. 6, December 1992, Verlag Georg DW Callwey, Munich, pp. 387-391.
  2. ↑ a b Dr. Eva Nienholdt, Berlin: fur on rulers' robes, on secular and religious religious and official costumes . In: The fur industry , Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin, Ffm., Leipzig, Vienna. Volume IX / New Series, No. 3, 1958, pp. 132-138.
  3. ↑ Editor: Ermine for the English coronation robe . In: Die Pelzwirtschaft , Verlag Die Pelzwirtschaft, Berlin, probably 1953, p. 361.
  4. ↑ Hoffmann / Tradler: Example: Louis de Silvestre d. J .: "Friedrich August I." or the miniature, watercolor on parchment, by Charles Noit: "August II.", After 1718.
  5. ^ Walter Fellmann: Heinrich Graf Brühl: a picture of life and time . 1989, ISBN 3-7338-0091-5 , pp. 96 .
  6. ^ A b Karl Czok: August the Strong and Electoral Saxony . Koehler & Amelang, 1990, p. 24. ISBN 3-406-32984-5 . Last accessed on December 29, 2019.
  7. ↑ skd-online-collection: apron for the coronation figurine . "The upper apron is made of silver lampas with gold edging, the lower apron is made of ponceau red silk velvet with gold edging". Last accessed on December 30, 2019.
  8. ↑ skd-online-collection: Feldkürass the Elector Friedrich August I of Saxony . Last accessed on December 19, 2019.
  9. ^ A b Karl Czok: At the court of Augustus the Strong . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Stuttgart, p. 44. ISBN 3-421-06521-7 .
  10. ↑ a b Claudia Schnitzer, Petra Hölscher: Making a good figure: costume and party at the Dresden court . Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 2000, pp. 225, 234ff. Last accessed on December 29, 2019.
  11. ↑ Christopher Sommer: Armory '- Presentation of weapons and armor from the early modern period in the museum . In: Volume 5 Material Culture , Carl von Ossietzky, Oldenburg 2012, p. 38. Last accessed on December 29, 2019.
  12. ^ August Schumann: Complete State, Post and Newspaper Lexicon of Saxony . Lexikon von Sachsen 2nd volume, Verlag Gebrüder Schumann, 1815, p. 253. Last accessed on December 29, 2019.
  13. ↑ a b Without indication of the author: Reconstruction of the coronation mantle of August the Strong . In: Pelzmarkt Newsletter No. 1, January 2020, Deutscher Pelzverband, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 12-14.
  14. ↑ a b Stefan Lehmann: The king's new clothes . www.saechsische.de, December 11, 2018. Last accessed on December 28, 2019.
  15. ↑ Simona Block, dpa: Step by step back to Augustan splendor and opulence . February 10, 2019. Last accessed January 10, 2020.
  16. ↑ Bernhard Schulz: Parade rooms of the Residenzschloss - Dresden's golden sheen shines again after restoration . www.tagesspiegel.de, September 27, 2019. Last accessed on December 29, 2019.
  17. ^ Steffen Guthardt: Dresden Residenzschloss: Magnificent as it was 300 years ago . Deutsche Handwerks Zeitung, October 25, 2019. Last accessed on January 10, 2020.
  18. ↑ skd-online-collection: Living mask of August II of Poland . “Plaster cast (flesh-colored through-dyed), colored, embedded wax eyeballs; Eye color green-brown; Eyelashes and brows natural hair dark brown. Height 26.5 cm length of the nose approx. 6 cm width of the mouth approx. 6.5 cm eye relief, inner approx. 3.5 cm; outer 11 cm ". Last accessed on December 30, 2019.
  19. ↑ www.dnn.de/dpa: Water parade and state room: Dresden is celebrating a baroque spectacle . August 20, 2019. Last accessed December 29, 2019.