The King of Bling
Only the age of absolutism could have produced a ruler in the mould of Augustus the Strong, Elector (or ruling prince) of Saxony and, later, King of Poland. This larger-thanlife German, who converted to Catholicism in order to stand for the Polish throne – was politically slippery: a determined but uninspiring military leader, a pragmatist driven by ambition, and a romantic egotist whose aspiration was to emulate the grandeur of France’s Louis XIV.
Contemporaries marvelled at his feats of strength, including breaking iron horse shoes in with his bare hands, and he was rumoured to have fathered 300 illegitimate children. What cannot be gainsaid is his extraordinary and lasting cultural legacy.
Augustus embraced unabashed splendour, both in his appearance and in the palaces and castles that, with flamboyant opulence, he built and rebuilt – notably in and around the Saxon capital of Dresden.
He had a passion for precious stones. In full ceremonial fig, he glittered with diamonds – buttons, epaulettes, chivalric orders, buckles on his shoes and breeches, and glittering on the hilt of his sword.
From Johann ann Melchior Dinglinger, his is court jeweller, er, he commissioned ed breathtaking g works in gold, jewels ls and enamel that, in a unique innovation, vation, were already y on display to the e public in the Green Vault by the time of his death in 1733. His taste te was for the splendid but also the rarefied – not so much a “king of bling” ng” but a connoisseur sseur among kings. s.