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. ==References==