Leonhard Kern

Exhibited by Kunstkammer Georg Laue

Material Ivory, monogrammed LK on a plinth

Dimensions H. 19.5 cm

Place of Creation Schwäbisch Hall

Status Vetted

About the Work

This particularly sensuous ivory in a small format is a female nude, who can be unequivocally identified as Cleopatra. Represented in the act of committing suicide, the legendary queen has epitomised beauty and temptation since antiquity: gazing upwards, her mouth slightly open, the queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt holds an asp in her right hand. Polished to a high gloss, the material properties of ivory underscore the voluptuous qualities of the nude female body and the figure’s emotionally charged facial expression, thus contributing substantially to the allure that radiates from this superlative small sculpture.

The artist responsible for this exquisite ivory is revealed by the monogram LK at the figure’s foot: Cleopatra is one of the few extant monogrammed works by the celebrated south German sculptor Leonhard Kern (1588–1662). His materials of choice were alabaster, boxwood and ivory for the exquisite and valuable sculptures in small formats in which he specialised and which graced the most important Kunstkammer of his day as exquisite and valuable collector’s items.

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Provenance

French noble family since the 19th century

Literature

Elisabeth Grünenwald: Leonhard Kern. Ein Bildhauer des Barock, Schwäbisch Hall 1969, Cat. Nos. 10 & 20
Harald Siebenmorgen (ed.): Leonhard Kern (1588–1662). Meisterwerke der Bildhauerei für die Kunstkammern Europas, exhib. cat. Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum Schwäbisch Hall, Sigmaringen 1988, p. 212, Cat. Nos. 97 & 101
Harald Siebenmorgen (ed.): Leonhard Kern. Neue Forschungsbeiträge, Sigmaringen 1990
Georg Laue: Leonhard Kern. Der Deutsche Giambologna. The German Giambologna, Kunstkammer Edition, Vol. 3, Munich 2016
Carmen Sylvia Weber (ed.): Leonhard Kern und Europa. Die Kaiserliche Schatzkammer Wien im Dialog mit der Sammlung Würth, exhib. cat. Kunsthalle Würth and Hällisch-Fränkischen Museum in Schwäbisch Hall, Künzelsau 2021, Cat. Nos. 16, 54 & 57