Invention und Nuditas bei Leonhard Kern (1588–1662)

The work analyzes the broad œuvre of the sculptor Leonhard Kern regarding content creativity and formal independence and traces the background of the nuditas he emphasized. His statuettes, primarily made of ivory, were widespread across Europe during the Thirty Years' War. The monogrammed objects (18 known so far) served to select works attributed to him. Prints from the period allow descriptively labeled figures to be viewed as allegories such as Veritas (St. Petersburg), Accedia (Vienna), Lascivitas (Darmstadt), and Fantasia (Neuenstein). Individual objects show a relation to war. His nudes depart from the ideal of antiquity and orient themselves toward reality. His Protestant worldview dampens the play with eroticism.