Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) portrait at age 61 by Elias Gottlob Haussmann….Bach’s portrait from 1746 is flanked by his Monogram…. Bach personally designed his Monogram which cleverly consists of the intertwined letters JSB, superimposed over their mirror image. He then topped the design with a crown. Bach took the liberty of adding a crown due to his assignments as royal court musician in Leipzig to the Elector and Duke of Saxony, Augustus III, who was also King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Even more impressive, he was admired by the most powerful man of the era, Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, for whom he not only performed but also enhanced some of Frederick’s own compositions.
For People Proud of their German Heritage 