Born on This Day: Sophia Eleonore of Saxony (‘lover of books’)


Furniture, Textiles & Fashion
November 23, 2014

Sophia Eleonore of Saxony (23 November 1609 – 2 June 1671) was a Duchess (Herzogin) of Saxony by birth. The daughter of John George I, Elector of Saxony and Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia, she was one of ten children.

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A very delicate wax of two year old Sophia Eleonore of Saxony, made by Daniel Kellerthaler, Germany (Dresden), 1611 V&A A.42-1978 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

This charming wax portrait of her will be on display in the new Europe Galleries next year. Nothing is known of the early owners of the plaque, although as Daniel Kellerthaler (whose monogram appears beneath the date) was court goldsmith, it was probably commissioned by a member of Sophia’s family, perhaps as a gift or as part of a series of commemorative wax portraits intended for the Elector’s collection of treasures and curiosities. No other image of her in wax is known, but a medal made two years before her marriage in 1625 survives.

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A detail of the wax which allows us to appreciate the details of her dress and also the flower in her left hand.

In 1627, at the age of seventeen, she married Landgrave George III and became Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt (a state of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a branch of the  House of Hesse).

The occasion of their wedding, was celebrated with the performance of the opera Dafne – the first opera in German. This was Martin Opitz’s translation of the libretto of Rinuccini’s Dafne, with music (now lost) by Heinrich Schütz.

Georg II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and His Consort Sophia Eleonore of Saxony. Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014
Georg II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and His Consort Sophia Eleonore of Saxony. Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014

The couple had fifteen children together, ten of which survived childhood. Sophia Eleanore was a devote Luthern and raised her children as such. However, her daughter Elisabeth Amalie, converted to Roman Catholicism in 1653, having married Count palatine Philip William of Neuburg, who later became Prince-elector of the Palatinate, heir to the Electoral Palatinate which was a one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire.

Elisabeth Amalie, probably with her eldest daughter Eleonore, around 1655, oil on canvas, Johannes Spilberg, 1654-55. Stadtmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf
Elisabeth Amalie, probably with her eldest daughter Eleonore, around 1655, oil on canvas, Johannes Spilberg, 1654-55. Stadtmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf

I recently came across an interesting 1998 article by Mara R. Wade, ‘Invisible Bibliographies: Three Seventeenth-Century German Women Writers’. In this article Wade considers Sophia Eleonore, as one of ‘three Saxon sisters’ (with Marie Elisabeth Duchess of Schleswig Holstein, and Magdalena Sibylle of Saxony), in terms of seventeenth-century German women writers who ‘have yet to be reclaimed by literary scholarship’.

The article takes as its starting point, the introduction written by antiquarian and librarian at the Gottorf court, Adam Olearius, for his devotional emblem book ‘The Proven Path to the True Paradise’. In his introduction, Olearius emphasises that the three women (all then widows), were avid readers of religious texts. Olearius dedicated this compilation of sacred emblems to them:

‘because it is well-known that all three duchesses are lovers of books, especially of devotional treatises, and that they possess a great number of them, entire libraries, and read them diligently for the betterment of their souls.’

Adam Olearius (1603-1671) German writer, explores, diplomat, and philologist, oil on canvas, Jürgen Ovens, 1669. http://www.kunst-fuer-alle.de/
Adam Olearius (1603-1671) German writer, explores, diplomat, and philologist, oil on canvas, Jürgen Ovens, 1669. http://www.kunst-fuer-alle.de/

Sophie Eleonore was actively engaged in all forms of court festivities, especially ballets. She published ‘Princely Ballet of Welcome and Good Wishes’, a ballet to welcome her son Ludwig and his bride Marie Elisabeth to Darmstadt in 1651. She also staged at least one court masque, ‘Short Sketch of the Mascarade’ in 1658. Anonymously published texts also document her performance in a number of court ballets.

Sophie Eleonore notably contributed to and published a number of funeral books – publications containing lamentations commemorating the person who had died. In commemoration of her husband’s death in 1661, she published ‘Mausoleum’, a huge and also highly political work.

She became recognised in both male and female circles for her skill in the genre of funerary writing and publications. As Wade summarises, Sophia Eleanore was one of a number of women who: ‘Disregarding the admonitions against writing and publication … ignored the cultural constraints of their times and published prolifically.’

Sophie Eleonore, Herzogin von Sachsen, Landgräfin von Hessen-Darmstadt mit ihren Enkeln, oil on canvas, Johannes Spilberg, 1667. Stadtmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf
Sophia Eleonore four years before her death, as Dowager Landgravine with her Palatine grandsons, Alexander Sigismund, Francis Louis and Frederick Wilhelm, oil on canvas, Johannes Spilberg, 1667. Stadtmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf

Sophia Eleonore survived her husband by ten years before dying in Darmstadt in 1671.

About the author


Furniture, Textiles & Fashion
November 23, 2014

I am an Assistant Curator working on the development of the new Europe 1600-1800 Galleries. My interests are wide-ranging but subjects I have particularly enjoyed exploring for this project include:...

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