The Fabrication of an Image: Johann Georg II’s Self-presentation

Abstract

The twenty-three-year reign of Johann Georg II from 1657 until 1680 was a pivotal one in terms of the development of Dresden as a court city and of the cultural achievements of the court. The reign was one of consolidation and reconstruction after the ravages of the Thirty Years’ War and Johann Georg II’s extensive programme of building bears witness to that. At the same time court entertainment, while retaining many traditional Saxon features, began to shake off any remaining provincial quaintness and to vie with the international festive culture of Vienna and Munich. That is the subject of the next chapter. This chapter is devoted to another of the cultural achievements of Johann Georg II — the elaboration of his own public image as warrior and hero over three decades, principally by means of court spectacles of homage focused on the person of the Elector.