Anton Martin Lublinský, that is Karl Dankwart : a few words about the painting Martin Středa as defender of Brno and its author

Abstract

The painting Martin Středa as defender of Brno (Moravian Gallery in Brno) is the most monumental representation of the Jesuit Martin Středa / Stredonius (1587–1649), who won fame and the eternal gratitude of the citizens of Brno for his active participation in the defence of the city during the four-month siege by the Swedish army in 1645. Older authors saw Michael Willmann as the author of the painting. However, Milan Togner attributed this work to Anton Martin Lublinský (1636–1690). As it turns out today, the author of this monumental work was Karl Dankwart († 1704) – the author of numerous fresco decorations and oil paintings and court painter to the Polish king John III Sobieski. The authorship of this Silesian artist of Swedish origin is supported both by formal analogies and the provenance of the painting from the former Jesuit conventin Brno. Dankwart's painting of Father Středa was probably a part of the gallery of full-figure portraits of the founders and benefactors of the convent. We can assume that the picture was not the only work that Dankwart produced for the Jesuits of Brno.