German School, 17th century

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Description

portrait of duke august the younger (1599-1666) of brunswick and lüneburg and his 2nd wife dorothea, princess of anhalt-zerbst (1607-1634)
A pair, both oil on canvas, both ovals
Each: 61 by 51 cm.(2)

portrait of duke august the younger (1599-1666) wearing damascened armour and brown skullcap,
portrait of duchess dorothea (1607-1634) wearing an elaborate ruff and pearls in her hair

Catalogue Note

Duke August the Younger (1579-1666) was a ruler of considerable erudition. After university he completed a Grand Tour of Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and France. He was regarded by his contemporaries as an outstanding collector and scholar, and it has been said that more poems and verses were dedicated to him than any other ruler of the Baroque period. His greatest achievements as a collector were his library of over 135,000 works in 31,000 volumes, housed in the Bibliotheca Augusta, now the Herzog August Bibliothek, and his collection of clocks.

Provenance:
Braunschweig (1885 - 1895);
Blankenburg circa 1929 Inv. Nr. 0264;
Ernst August- Kunstgegenstände.