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

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

and

portrait painter Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, 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 commissio ...

Biography

David Klöcker was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

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

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and moved to Skokloster Castle (''Skoklosters slott'') on

Lake Mälaren A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

, Sweden at the request of Swedish nobleman

Carl Gustaf Wrangel ''Fältmarskalk'' Carl Gustaf Wrangel (also Carl Gustav von Wrangel; 23 December 1613 – 5 July 1676) was a Swedish statesman and military commander who commanded the Swedish forces in the Thirty Years' War, as well as the Torstenson, Bremen, ...

(1613–1676). Between 1654 and 1661 he studied in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and visited the courts of both

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 Charles XI or Carl (; ) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of History of Sweden, Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden ...

Erik Dahlbergh Count Erik Jönsson Dahlbergh (10 October 1625 – 16 January 1703) was a Swedish military engineer, Governor-general, Field marshal and Master-general of the Ordinance. He rose to the level of nobility through his military competence. Acc ...

Georg Stiernhielm Georg Stiernhielm (August 7, 1598 – April 22, 1672) was a Swedish civil servant, mathematician, linguist and poet. He has been called "the father of the Swedish skald art". Stiernhielm's most famous poetic work is the first poem in the Musæ ...

and Agneta Horn. 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 . Ehrenstrahl also painted several ceilings and large wall pieces with allegoric motifs. The great hall ceiling

fresco Fresco ( 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 plaster, the painting become ...

, named ''The Great Deeds of The Swedish Kings'', in the Swedish 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 A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessar ...

) at

Drottningholm Palace Drottningholm Palace (), or Drottningholm, one of Sweden's royal palaces, situated near Sweden's capital Stockholm, is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. Located on Lovön island in Stockholm County's Ekerö Municipalit ...

, 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 * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

postage stamp and banknote engraver

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

(1921-2005). The stamp was issued by the

PostNord Sverige PostNord Sverige AB (formerly ''Posten AB'') is a Swedish postal service and courier company, which is part of PostNord. In 2009 Posten merged with its Danish equivalent, Post Danmark A/S, to form PostNord AB, a company that is jointly owned b ...

in March 2000. Ehrenstrahl is also known for his proposal, in 1694, that:
''- "Art presents

riddle A riddle is a :wikt:statement, statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or Allegory, alleg ...

s that could not be solved by everyone".''

Personal life

Ehrenstrahl was married to Maria Momma in 1663. He was the father of artist Anna Maria Ehrenstrahl (1666–1729) and the uncle of painter

. He died in 1698 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Gallery

File:David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl NM Nn 78 IMG 0777 Carl XI.jpg, Painting by the royal painter David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, depicting the Young King Carl XI of Sweden. Collection of the National Museum (Stockholm), located in Läckö Castle, Sweden. File:David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl - Charles XII of Sweden 1697.jpg, Portrait of

Carl XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

, 1697 File:David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl - King Charles XI of Sweden riding a horse.jpg, King Charles XI of Sweden riding a horse File:Adolf Johan d.ä., 1629-1689 (David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl) - Nationalmuseum - 39785 (crop).jpg,

Adolph John I, Count Palatine of Kleeburg Adolph John I (; ; 11 October 1629 – 14 October 1689) was Count Palatine of Kleeburg from 1654 until 1689 and was considered Prince of Sweden until 1660. He was the younger brother of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden. Life Adolph John was born ...

File:Christina Piper, David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl.png, Countess

Christina Piper Christina Piper (; 1 January 1673 – 25 March 1752) was a Swedish countess, landowner and entrepreneur who was married to the statesman and military count Carl Piper. During the tenure of her spouse in office, she played a considerable pol ...

in her youth, before 1698

References

Other sources

familysearch.org
Accessed August 6, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehrenstrahle, David Klocker 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