Existing comment:
"Invention" Mask of August the Strong
1709
Johann Melchior Dinglinger
This mask was worn by Augustus II, better known as Augustus the Strong, at one of the many court festivals (called "inventions") held in Dresden during his reign. The elector of Saxony and king of Poland used these occasions to fashion his identity as ruler, dressing as a god or hero whose traits he admired. This mask associated Augustus with both the sun god Apollo and the famous Sun King, Louis XIV of France, whom he * met on a visit to Versailles in 1687. |