David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl (23 September 1628 – 23 October 1698) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

nobleman and

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

Biography

David Klöcker was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. He was the son of Johann Klöcker and had eight siblings. In 1648, Klöcker traveled to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

where he learned how to paint following the instructions from Juriaen Jacobsze (1624–1685). In 1652, he left his art studies in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and moved to

Skokloster Castle Skokloster Castle ( sv, Skoklosters slott) is a Swedish Baroque castle built between 1654 and 1676 by Carl Gustaf Wrangel, located on a peninsula of Lake Mälaren between Stockholm and Uppsala. It became a state museum in the 1970s and displays co ...

(''Skoklosters slott'') on

Lake Mälaren A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, Sweden at the request of Swedish nobleman Carl Gustaf Wrangel (1613–1676). Between 1654 and 1661 he studied in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and visited the courts of both

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. On his return he became entitled

Court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

(''hovkonterfejare'') in 1661. He was raised to the nobility in 1674 at which time he took the surname Ehrenstråhl. He became court intendant in 1690. He made portraits of, among others, King Charles XI of Sweden, Erik Dahlbergh, Georg Stiernhielm and

Agneta Horn Agneta Horn (18 August 1629 – 18 March 1672) was a Swedish writer born to noble parents and a military father. She traveled a great deal throughout Europe in her lifetime as a result of living in a military family and later marrying another s ...

. Among his pupils can be found Mikael Dahl and

David von Krafft David Krafft, from 1719 David von Krafft (1655 – 20 September 1724), was a German-Swedish painter, the nephew and student of David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl and his successor (in 1698) as painter to the Swedish Royal Court. Biography Krafft was bo ...

as well as his daughter

Anna Maria Ehrenstrahl Anna Maria Ehrenstrahl (4 September 1666 – 22 October 1729),En mamsell i akademien. Ulrica Fredrica Pasch och 1700-talets konstvärld. av Anna Lena Lindberg, Stockholm: Signum, 2010. Anna Maria Ehrenstrahl, urn:sbl:16717, Svenskt biografiskt le ...

. Ehrenstrahl also painted several ceilings and large wall pieces with

allegoric As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

motifs. The great hall ceiling

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

, named ''The Great Deeds of The Swedish Kings'', in the

Swedish House of Knights The House of Nobility ( sv, Riddarhuset) in Stockholm, Sweden, is a corporation and a building that maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility. Name The name is literally translated as ''House of Knights'', ...

(''Riddarhuspalatset'') made between 1670 and 1675, is considered to be his greatest work. A second version was made during 1695 on the ceiling of ''Ehrenstrahlsalongen'' (the Ehrenstrahl parlour) at

Drottningholm Palace The Drottningholm Palace ( sv, Drottningholms slott) is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. Drottningholm is near the capital Stockholm. Built on the island Lovön (in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County), it is one of Swede ...

, the home of the Swedish Royal Family. The center piece of the Drottningholm fresco also became the motive of the 1000th postage stamp designed by

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

postage stamp and banknote engraver

Czesław Słania Czesław Słania (22 October 1921 Czeladź; 17 March 2005 Kraków) was a Polish-born postage stamp and banknote engraver, living in Sweden from 1956. According to the ''Guinness Book of World Records'', Słania was the most skilled and prolifi ...

(1921-2005). The stamp was issued by the PostNord Sverige in March 2000. Ehrenstrahl is also known for his proposal, in 1694, that:
''- "Art presents riddles that could not be solved by everyone".''

Personal life

Ehrenstrahl was married to Maria Momma in 1663. He was the father of artist

(1666–1729) and the uncle of painter

. He died during 1698 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

References

Other sources

familysearch.org
Accessed August 6, 2008 1628 births 1698 deaths Artists from Hamburg German emigrants to Sweden German Baroque painters 17th-century Swedish painters Swedish portrait painters Swedish male painters Swedish nobility Court painters {{Sweden-painter-stub