Hans von Aachen

Hans von Aachen (1552-1615), a court artist active in many parts of Europe, has retained his international reputation until today. After training in Cologne he went to Italy, where he worked as an acclaimed portrait painter in Venice, Rome and Florence. He received commissions from the Duke of Bavaria in Munich and the Fuggers in Augsburg before being called to the court of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague as court painter in 1592.

The works of Hans von Aachen reflect the refined courtly taste of European art of the Late Renaissance: in his paintings Hans von Aachen combines Dutch realism, Venetian colour and the disegno of Florentine and Roman Mannerism. His patrons appreciated both the verisimilitude of his portraits and the elegance of his compositions comprising beautifully formed and brilliantly painted nude bodies.

This is the first show dedicated solely to this versatile artist, and it presents the numerous facets of his oeuvre created during his sojourns in Italy, Germany and at the court in Prague. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), the Picture Gallery of Prague Castle and the Kunsthistorisches Museum. After Aix-la-Chapelle and Prague the exhibition now moves to Vienna, home to the world’s largest and most important collection of his works.