Portrait of Pastor Ludwig Albrecht Wilhelm Ilgen (1759-1823)

Date1823

Artist Henry Young (1791-1861)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Centre County

Mediumwatercolor, ink, and gum arabic on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Support: 8 1/16in. (20.5cm) and Framed: 14 1/2 x 12 1/2in.

Credit LineGift of the L. Paul Ilgen Family of Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, in memory of their ancestor, the portrait subject

Object number1992.300.1

DescriptionA bust-length profile portrait of a man in clerical attire facing right. His shoulder length hair is combed straight back and curls up at the ends. The object in front of the ear seems to be a representation of a side curl or side whiskers. The portrait is enclosed in an oval topped with a yellow and red-dotted bow and suspended from a swagged drape, whose tails hang down either side culminating in two large tassels on each side. The drapery is outlined in blue but not filled in except for the three round supports at top and the ovals on either side.
The 2 1/4-inch frame is a replacement that probably dates from the 1880s. It consists of a striped gold liner followed by a black-painted, scratch-decorated middle course, followed by a mottled, painted ("tortoiseshell") outer quarter round.Label TextThis is the earliest signed and dated work by Young that is known. It is a pivotal piece, having provided conclusive evidence for linking a large body of unsigned birth records to the artist. Tradition in the donor's family holds that, at the time of Pastor Ilgen's death, Young created seven portraits like this, one for each of the minister's seven surviving children. Although that tradition is unverified, at least one other portrait has been recorded, and the existence of a second is rumored.
Ilgen was born in Hechlingen, Margravate of Ansbach, in present-day Germany. He emigrated to America as a mercenary in the First Jaeger Batallion, a unit that fought for the British in the Revolutionary War. The subject deserted from the army at some point between December 1778 and August 9, 1779, and settled in Cohansey, Jersey, where, in 1785, he married Anna Barbara Kautz (1765-1852).
Ilgen taught school and occasionally filled in at funerals and baptisms when no formally ordained Lutheran minister was available. In 1800, he moved his family to Centre County, Pennsylvania, and in 1804, he was ordained in the Lutheran Synod. He served several congregations in Centre County from 1809 to until his death in 1823, and he conducted baptisms for many children whose birth certificiates were drawn by Henry Young.Inscription(s)In ink in block letters immediately below the oval of the portrait bust is "H. YOUNG. FECIT. 1823." In ink in script below the preceding is "Ludwig Albrecht Wilhelm Ilgen/ Prediger zu Youngmanstown &/Penns und Brushvalley" (translated as "Preacher at Youngmanstown and Penns and Brush Valley").ProvenanceFrom the subject's son John Michael William Ilgen (1806-1890); to his son Samuel W. Ilgen (1834-1910); to his son David W. Ilgen (1865-1928); to his son, Luther Paul Ilgen (1900-1954); to his son Luther Paul Ilgen, Jr., who was AARFAM's donor.