The two wall paintings in the Second Anteroom are by Louis de Silvestre, the Dresden court painter. They are part of a Gallery of Fame devised by August the Strong in Poland, but never completed. Records relating to four paintings have survived – these two, and two more that are now in St. Petersburg in Russia.
The first of the two paintings in this room portrays the farewell of Electoral Prince Friedrich August as he set out on the Grand Tour. Next to him on the left stands his father, August the Strong. Clad in armour and with a decisive gesture, he presents himself as a sovereign, while the attendant gods and men are nothing but subordinate extras. This subject draws on similar contemporary portrayals of Louis the Fourteenth, the absolutist Sun King.
The second painting shows Louis the Fourteenth receiving Electoral Prince Friedrich August in Fontainebleau during the latter’s Grand Tour. Louis seems to have been quite taken with the young man, since he granted him a second audience. During this second meeting, he embraced the Electoral Prince “several times most fondly”, according to a contemporary witness, and presented him with a priceless sword studded with diamonds.
Finally, please take a moment to look at the two floral still lifes above the doors. The records show that the overdoors here in the Second Anteroom are once again in their original place.
