David Krafft, from 1719 David von Krafft (1655 – 20 September 1724), was a German-Swedish painter, the nephew and student of

David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl (23 September 1628 – 23 October 1698) was a Sweden, Swedish nobleman and portrait painter. Biography David Klöcker was born in Hamburg. He was the son of Johann Klöcker and had eight siblings. In 1648, Klö ...

and his successor (in 1698) as painter to the Swedish Royal Court.

Biography

Krafft 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 ...

. Krafft became an orphan at an early age. His parents' names are not known but his mother was a sister of the Swedish court painter

. Krafft was called to Sweden in 1675 by Ehrenstrahl, as his assistant and apprentice. Ehrenstrahl also became his teacher in the art of painting. David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl had been born in Hamburg and settled in Sweden in the 1650s, where he was successful as a painter primarily of portraits of members of the royal house and the aristocracy. He was ennobled in 1674, receiving the surname Ehrenstrahl. In 1684 Krafft received an annual grant from Queen

Ulrika Eleonora the Elder Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark (11 September 1656 – 26 July 1693) was Queen of Sweden as the wife of King Charles XI. She is often admired for her generosity and charity. The name ''Ulrike'' is a Danish version of the name; in Swedish she is ca ...

for a journey to Italy through Denmark and Germany. The purpose was first to visit the various princely courts to paint the Queen's relatives to supplement her portrait collection, and later to continue to Italy for further studies. He arrived in Italy in 1687, spent a year in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, three years in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and one year in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. He later traveled to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and was awarded an increased grant for going to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1694. He finally returned to Stockholm and his uncle's studio in 1696. After Ehrenstrahl's death in 1698, Krafft was appointed his successor as

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 ...

. His main task was to paint representative portraits of King

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...

. His last portrait of the King before his departure for the war in 1700 was an equestrian portrait showing the King wearing a wig and an ermine cape. In the absence of the King, his main employer was the Dowager Queen Hedvig Eleonora; about a hundred portraits of her by Krafft are known. Krafft's later portraits of Charles, which are among the most well-known and reproduced, show the King in the simpler attire he adopted during the campaigns: bareheaded and wearing a simple blue uniform, except for subtle details similar to that of the other soldiers in the army. In this case, Krafft's image was dependent on a type of portrait that had been developed in accordance with the directions of Charles himself, and first established with the 1706-07 portrait by the artist Johan David Swartz (1678-1729), a former student of Krafft who had been present in the camp at

Altranstädt Altranstädt is a village and former municipality in Saxony, Germany, now part of the town Markranstädt in the district of Leipzig. The village is historically famous for two treaties that were concluded there, the Treaty of Altranstädt (1706) ...

in Saxony with the King. This realistic but forceful image of the King broke with current conventions for royal portraiture and Krafft adapted the type inherited from Swartz and produced numerous copies from 1707 and 1717. When Charles XII had his residence in Lund in 1717, Krafft again got the chance to paint him live. As with the earlier portrait, based on the Altranstädt painting by Swartz, the Lund portrait was produced in many copies by Krafft and his followers. His largest painting is the Hildebrand family portrait from 1713 at Nynäs Manor, (''Nynäs slott'') in

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanla ...

, depicting the merchant and industrialist Henrik Jacob Hildebrand (1636—1714) and his wife Anna Sofia Amya on the occasion of their 50th anniversary surrounded by their over twenty children and grandchildren, as well as some deceased relatives in paintings on the wall in the background. Krafft also painted many of King Charles's generals. Besides his many portraits which were the major portion of his production, Krafft painted a large altarpiece for

Kalmar Cathedral Kalmar Cathedral ( sv, Kalmar domkyrka) is in the city of Kalmar in Småland in southeast Sweden. History The new city of Kalmar was built on Kvarnholmen island in the mid-17th century. The transfer from the old town was largely completed by 1 ...

showing the ''

Descent from the Cross The Descent from the Cross ( el, Ἀποκαθήλωσις, ''Apokathelosis''), or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after hi ...

'' (1712). Krafft was ennobled in 1719, receiving the surname ''von Krafft'', and awarded the title of court intendant (''hovintentendent'') in 1720. He died in Stockholm during 1724.

Selected portraits

David von Krafft-Porträtt av Hedvig Eleonora.jpg, Queen Hedvig Eleonora File:Hedvig Sophia (1681–1708), Swedish princess (David von Krafft) - Nationalmuseum - 40116.tif, Hedvig Sophia Stanislaw I Leszczynski of Poland.jpg, King

Stanisław I Leszczyński Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

of Poland File:Ulrika Eleonora d. y., 1688-1741, drottning av Sverige (David von Krafft) - Nationalmuseum - 112516.tif, Queen Ulrika Eleanora File:David von Krafft - King Charles XII of Sweden 002.jpg, Equestrian portrait of Charles XII

References

Other sources

*Ericsson, Peter, "Bilden av suveränen", in: Stellan Dahlgren et al. (ed), ''Makt & Vardag. Hur man styrde, levde och tänkte under svensk stormaktstid'', Stockholm: Atlantis, 1993, pp. 148–174. *von Malmborg, Boo: "von Krafft, David", ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'', 21, pp. 515–518. {{DEFAULTSORT:Krafft, David Von 1655 births 1724 deaths 17th-century Swedish painters Swedish male painters 18th-century Swedish painters 18th-century Swedish male artists Court painters Artists from Hamburg German emigrants to Sweden