Frederic the Bitten

There is a large mosaic / ceramic mural thing on the side of the Palace in Dresden (very close to my apartment) that I walk past every night on my way to and from work. It depicts the line of Saxon Princes (about whom I really know very little – apart from the fact that I guess this was their palace…) from the 12th Century to the late 19th Century (finishing with Albert and George… can anyone tell me if this is the Albert and George that wound up in the British monarchy? I overheard someone wondering if it was the Albert that married Queen Victoria…I should probably Google it… or at least have a vague idea of the chronology)

Anyway, back on topic… most of the princes pictured have some description of their notable values attached to their name. For example, such-and-such the Great is at the head of the procession and also found are whats-his-name the Wise, thingemijig the Just, whos-it the Courageous, Blah-blah the benevolent… and so forth… but there is one (and I have checked that my suspect German translation hasn’t failed me here) who is called Frederic the Bitten… (der Gebissene for those German speakers reading…) He makes me giggle every time I walk past. What or who bit him? And why? And was this really the most notable aspect of his princeliness??? His portrait on the mosaic / mural thingy doesn’t show any notable bite mark. No limbs lost or anything remarkable… I really want to know (again, Google is a possible solution, but it really is so passe… do we really need that many answers at our fingertips? Sometimes the fun is in the complete lack of knowledge)

It makes me wonder what my trait would be if I were ever muralized / mosaiced… Trevor the …

Maybe that’s actually appropriate as I really have used … way too much in this particular post…

Or maybe Trevor the … (completely irrelevant) …

PS Today I visited the Gallery of Old Masters in Dresden (a very good collection – including a Rembrandt – The Abduction of Ganymede - recently restored with remarkable colours – not at all like the dark somber paintings I usually associate with Rembrandt… or the boring etchings… oh and also including the Raffaello with those 2 famous cherubs at the bottom – brings back memories of Death By Chocolate…) and there was a reference to Frederic the Wise (in German: Freidrich der Gewissene)… I searched the mural for him tonight and couldn’t find him… What if Frederic the Bitten was just some terrible misprint??? Would that mean I could end up as Trevor the Piano-Player???

PPS I will add some pics when I actually take them…