Anton Kern

Anton Kern or Körne (12 December 1709 - 8 June 1747) was a Bohemian-born painter; primarily of religious and historical scenes.

Biography Kern was born in Děčín, where his father Johannes was the town clerk. He was brought by his father to Dresden, where his artistic talents first came to the attention of Laurentio di Rossi, an artist of Venetian origin who was serving as a court painter in Saxony, while Kern was attending the Jesuit school in Bohosudov. and an enthroned Virgin Mary, surrounded by St. Anthony, St. John of Nepomuk and St. Wenceslaus (National Gallery in Prague); this group of works shows the influence of Johann Christoph Lischka and Petr Brandl.

In 1738, he was summoned to Dresden, where he received several commissions related to the wedding of Princess Maria Amalia and King Charles VII of Naples (later Charles III of Spain). He made numerous sketches for altar and ceiling paintings at the court church that were never executed. That same year, Frederick Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony, presented him with a scholarship to study in Rome, where he may have worked with Francesco Trevisani. Upon his return in 1741, he was appointed a court painter. He died in Dresden.

In his last years, he turned to mythological subjects and developed stylistic elements that would later become part of the Rococo style. In 1747 he became ill, with an unknown ailment, and died the same day.

His older brother, Benedict (1704-c.1777), was also an artist and court painter in Saxony, who specialized in landscapes and restorations.