Upon entering the first room in the exhibition ‘From the Gothic Style to Art Nouveau’, several unique objects are revealed in a display case on the right, found and acquired by the Rundāle Palace Museum during the restoration of the family vault of the Dukes of Courland.
On 2 July 2015, the restored sarcophagus of Duchess Sophie was consecrated in the family vault of the Dukes of Courland in Jelgava Palace, but ahead of this event her remains had to be arranged.
In 1933–1934 the family vault were repaired and sarcophagi restored, and the lower part of the coffin with all its contents placed in a tin trough as the coffin boards no longer held together. As the family vault were in Jelgava Palace built for Duke Ernst Johann Biron, a 10-cm layer of various debris (sand and stones from plaster, tin slabs from the sarcophagus, pieces of wood) had gathered inside the coffin during the dramatic events of history. It was hard to assess and tidy this debris in the semi-darkness of the vault, and the decision was made to continue this work on the premises of Rundāle Palace Museum. However, one photograph taken in the family vault at that time is unusual – in it, two arrows of light reach towards the centre of the box like two hands…
Unfortunately, further investigation revealed that mice and rats had gnawed all clothing to tiny shreds. Between two pieces of light satin were also painted fragments of brown silk fabric, probably from the coat of arms that had been laid over the coffin. There were also several unique fragments of net lace – some of the oldest lace samples found in the territory of Latvia, and analogous samples are yet to be found.
The coffin was being examined from the bottom up when suddenly something glistened in the middle of rubble, as shown in the photo. It turned out to be a gold ring with a diamond eyelet.
Another gold ring was also found – with cut diamonds arranged as six rays around a central eyelet. The remains of black enamel can still be seen on its shank.
This was followed by an even bigger surprise – a very fine, small engagement ring caught on a twig of marsh tea plant. It is decorated with blue enamel and features four flowers with four white enamel petals arranged around a blue enamel middle. A cut diamond is embedded in the square elevation of head, and a shield is moulded on the opposite side of the shank. On the inside of shield are initials IHS (from Iesus Hominum Salvator in latin, meaning ‘Jesus Saviour of Men’) but on the outside – the initials of betrothed: Duke of Courland Wilhelm and Duchess Sophie of Prussia: WS. On the side of the shank is the symbol of engagement – folded hands.
Interestingly, when she wrote letters to her husband, Duke Wilhelm, Sophie sometimes used these initials in her signature.
The rings do not have a maker’s mark to determine where they were made, but it can be assumed that Duke Wilhelm had ordered them in the capital of the Duchy of Prussia –Königsberg.
These rings have the characteristic form and finish of Mannerism – black enamel is used to accentuate the ornament and cut diamonds are embedded in a gold frame. Two rings had a silk thread wrapped around the shank. It seems that the rings, which today would fit only a five-year-old child, were too big for the fragile Duchess Sophie and had to be swathed with thread.
In September 1705, Swedish marauders robbed the Dukes’ family vault in the church of the old Jelgava Palace and left evidence of their crime inside a coffin – the coin 1 Öre from the reign of Charles XI of Sweden, which must have fallen out while the robbers were ripping off necklaces, earrings or other jewellery.
It truly was a miracle that none of the family vault vandals and robbers had noticed the beautiful rings. Holding these rings more than 400 years later was a very emotional experience.
Duchess Sophie von Preußen (1582–1610) was the daughter of the Duke of Prussia Albrecht Friedrich von Preußen (1553–1618) and Marie Eleonore von Jülich-Kleve-Berg (1550–1608). In 1608, the Duke of Courland Wilhelm Kettler (1574–1640) proposed to Duchess Sophie and in 1609 they got married in Königsberg.
Only one miniature portrait of Sophie is known, and it used to be in the Königliche Kunstkammer in Berlin as recorded in its inventory of 1689. It depicts a young woman wearing a luxurious diadem, her dress is embroidered with gold and has a round collar adorned with lace typical of the early 17th century and complemented with expensive pearl jewellery. On its side was the inscription ‘Sophia geborne Marggrefin zu Brandenburgk und Herzogin in Preussen Anno 1606’. The portrait was created by the Brandenburg Court painter Daniel Rose (?–1639/40). It perished during World War II.
On 28 October 1610, Duchess Sophie gave birth to a son Jacob. It is possible that there were complications at childbirth because the Duchess never recovered and died nearly a month later. As Duke Wilhem’s residence was Kuldīga, the deceased Duchess was laid to rest in a tin sarcophagus in the chapel of Kuldīga Palace. In August 1642, when Duke Friedrich, the oldest brother of Duke Wilhelm, died (1569–1642), the young Duke Jacob moved the remains of his parents (father from Kukułowo Abbey and mother from Kuldīga Palace) to reinter them in the family vault of the Dukes of Courland in Jelgava. It is probable that while Duchess Sophie’s sarcophagus was transported along the uneven roads, the rings slipped off and fell in the plants that had been placed inside the coffin (traditionally very aromatic plants were used such as marsh tea, rosemary and hyssop) where they remained unnoticed by the treasure hunters.
A full-length portrait of Duke Wilhelm painted by an unknown artist in 1615 is displayed on the opposite wall of the decorative art exhibition – it is the only original portrait of the Duke of the Kettler family that has survived in Latvia. The Duke’s gaze seems to be fixed on his wife’s rings…
Until 1895 the painting was in the St Magdalene Church on the island of Ruhnu, then in a very bad condition it was acquired by the association ‘Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Altertumskunde zu Riga’ and later by the Dom Museum in Riga. It was restored by Baltic-German painter Julius Siegmund (1828–1919) who made a copy and presented it to the church in Ruhnu. During the 1930s the original painting was displayed in the representation halls of Riga Castle, but since 1965 it is in the collection of Rundāle Palace Museum.
When and how the portrait of Duke Wilhelm ended up on the island of Ruhnu is still a mystery. After the untimely death of his wife Sophie, Duke Wilhelm did not look for another wife and instead applied himself to strengthening the Duchy’s economy and his own power. He established manufactories and commenced shipbuilding, but came into a sharp conflict with the nobles of Courland, who did not approve of the Duke’s stern reign. After the assassinations of the opposition leaders, the Nolde brothers, the nobility via the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth succeeded in suspending Duke Wilhelm, and he was exiled from Courland. Archive documents show that on a Thursday night after Palm Sunday of 1617, the Duke left Kuldīga bringing with him chests of clothes, silverware and other household items. He also took paintings, but where was he headed? Some records indicate that he stayed in Stockholm, Prussia and Saaremaa where his possessions were sought even during the reign of Duke Jacob. It was not until 1628 that Duke Wilhelm settled in Pomerania, became the provost of Kukułowo Abbey and remained there until his death in 1640.
stensibly, the Duke must have also stayed on the island of Ruhnu for some time, which until 1621 belonged to the Duchy of Courland. Since the 14th century, it was mainly inhabited by a Swedish community. It is not known where exactly the Duke lived, but a local legend attests him as a kind man who was welcomed by the residents of Ruhnu. In gratitude, he gifted his portrait together with two paintings of his coat of arms and his wife’s coat of arms.
When the St Magdalene Church was erected in 1644 the islanders displayed the paintings in the church. The portrait of the exquisitely dressed Duke stood out against the modest background of the wooden church.
Johann Georg Weygand, amateur doctor and historian from Kuldīga, writes in his manuscript on the genealogy of the Dukes and Duchesses of the Kettler family ‘Genealogische Geschichte des Herzöge und Herzöginen von Kurland und Semgallen…’ that Duke Wilhelm left Ventspils on 20 April 1617 and headed for the island of Ruhnu. The author did not know how long the Duke had stayed there, but he mentioned that the portraits of the Duke and his wife, together with the paintings of the coats of arms of Courland and Brandenburg, were placed near the altar in the church in Ruhnu. Based on this sentence, historians and art historians of the 19th and 20th centuries claimed that the portrait of Duchess Sophie was also in the old wooden church on the island of Ruhnu and had since disappeared without a trace. However, there is no mention that the portrait of the Duchess was in the church in either Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Russwurm’s (Estonian-German ethnologist and historian) work ‘Eibofolke oder die Schweden an der Küste Esthlands und auf Runö’ (1855) and ‘Sagen aus Hapsal, der Wiek, Oesel und Runö’ (1861) or pastor Arwed von Schmidt’s (who served in several churches across the Estonian islands) brochure ‘Einige Notizen über die Insel Runo’ in 1864. The portrait of Wilhem was painted in 1615 when Sophie was already dead. Is it plausible that the artist might have created a copy from another portrait of Sophie and painted it large scale? Hopefully, further research into the history of the Duchy of Courland will shed light on this page of Duke Wilhelm’s life.
Written by: Daira Līdaka (26.10.1941. – 19.09.2021.)
20.05.2024