Christian Bernhard Rode (1725 Berlin - 1797 in Berlin) Joachim I becomes Elector of Brandenburg, also titled "Joachim the First becomes Elector in his boyhood" Painting from an important 14-part cycle on the "Brandenburg History" ("Brandenburgiana"). The portrait-format painting depicts the scene of Joachim, who was only 15 years old at the time and came from the House of Hohenzollern, being appointed Elector of Brandenburg in 1499 (contrary to the provisions of the "Golden Bull"). He is depicted kneeling in a red ermine cloak, while a high-ranking clergyman places the elector's hat on his head and presents him with the sceptre as an insignia. The catalogue of the 1786 Academy exhibition smugly states: "The bishop, who hands him the sceptre, seems to think: children should rule over us". Rode received the commission for the cycle of 14 paintings depicting the history of Brandenburg around 1757 from Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia (the younger brother of King Frederick II and father of the later Prussian King Frederick Wilhelm II). It was presumably intended for the decoration of Oranienburg Palace. Although the prince's patron died in 1758 while the cycle was still incomplete, Rode completed the remaining works in the cycle himself under his own responsibility by 1763. Five years later, Daniel Chodowiecki was commissioned by Rode to etch twelve of the fourteen paintings for the Berlin calendar of 1769. It was not until 1786 that the public was able to see Rode's complete cycle at the Berlin Academy's first exhibition. This cycle is of outstanding importance for the history of patriotic history painting in Prussia. Rode studied in the workshop of Antoine Pesne in Berlin, was closely associated with the leading figures of the Berlin Enlightenment and was a friend of Daniel Chodowiecki. The history of Brandenburg and Prussia became the main theme of his art. Rode had been a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts since 1756 and was appointed its director in 1783. Oil on canvas, double; 83 x 73 cm. Frame. Literature/Exhibition: Cat. Berliner Akademie-Ausstellung 1786, no. 14, p. 12 ("Joachim der Erste wird in seinem Knabenalter schon Kurfürst"); Rainer Michaelis (ed.): exhib. cat. "Fridericiana. Christian Bernhardt Rode (1725-1797)", Gemäldegalerie Berlin 1999. Enclosed: Expertise by Prof. Dr. Helmut Börsch-Supan, Berlin, 3.5.2010. Provenance: 1786 in the possession of Rode in Berlin; 1925 from the possession of the Berlin lawyer Dr Max Salomon to the Berlin art dealer Auerbach, who in turn sold it to a private collection in Sweden through the mediation of the director of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Lund, Dr Karlin. Oil on canvas. Painted circa 1757-1763 and shown by the artist in the first exhibition of the Academy in Berlin 1786 (no. 14). Accompanied by an expertise from Professor Dr Helmut Börsch-Supan, 3rd of May 2010.