Johann Rottenhammer, or Hans Rottenhammer (1564 – 14 August 1625), was a German painter. He specialized in highly finished paintings on a small scale.

Biography

He was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, where he studied until 1588 under

Hans Donauer Hans Donauer (c1521, Munich – 1596, Munich), was a German Renaissance painter. He is sometimes known as Hans Donauer the Elder. His surname is sometimes spelt "Thonauer or Thunauer. Biography According to Karel van Mander he was the teacher ...

the Elder. In 1593-4 (and perhaps earlier) he was in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and he then settled in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

from 1595-6 to 1606, before returning to Germany and settling in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

, working also in Munich. He died in Augsburg, apparently in some poverty, and according to some sources an alcoholic.

Work

In Venice he gained a reputation for small highly finished

cabinet painting A cabinet painting (or "cabinet picture") is a small painting, typically no larger than two feet (0.6 meters) in either dimension, but often much smaller. The term is especially used for paintings that show full-length figures or landscapes at a s ...

s on copper, of religious and mythological subjects, combining German and Italian elements of style. In particular he combines the landscape tradition of the North with the compositional and figure styles of

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed wit ...

and Veronese. While in Venice, Rottenhammer made a copy of Albrecht Dürer's painting ''

Feast of the Rosary ''Feast of the Rosary'' (German: ''Rosenkranzfest'') is a 1506 oil painting by Albrecht Dürer, now in the National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic. According to Czechoslovakian art historian Jaroslav Pešina, it is "probably the most superb pai ...

'', until the 19th century in the possession of the Grimani family in Venice, but since considered missing.Bartram, Giulia. ''Albrecht Dürer and his Legacy'', The British Museum Press, London, 2002, pp.88-89. He was the first German artist to specialize in cabinet paintings. In Rome he knew the earlier members of the

Bamboccianti The ''Bamboccianti'' were Genre works, genre painters active in Rome from about 1625 until the end of the seventeenth century. Most were Netherlands, Dutch and Flemings, Flemish artists who brought existing traditions of depicting peasant subject ...

, a circle of Northern artists (before the name itself arose), and remained in regular contact with

Paul Bril Paul Bril (1554 – 7 October 1626) was a Flemish painter and printmaker principally known for his landscapes.Nicola Courtright. "Paul Bril." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 26 September 2016 He spent most of ...

, a Flemish artist living in Rome, sending him plates with the figures painted on for Bril to supply the landscape, according to a dealer's letter of 1617. He also collaborated with

Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collabora ...

in a similar way. He was commissioned in 1600 to paint a ''Feast of the Gods'' for

Emperor Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...

(now Hermitage). A good example of his early style, in which he approaches Tintoretto, is his ''Death of Adonis'' in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. Once back in Germany, he worked on larger altarpieces and decorative schemes for palaces, including the Munich Residenz and Schloss Bückeborg(Goldener Saal), more in the style of

Northern Mannerism Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, e ...

than his Italian work. He is believed to have employed

Adam Elsheimer __NOTOC__ Adam Elsheimer (18 March 1578 – 11 December 1610) was a German artist working in Rome, who died at only thirty-two, but was very influential in the early 17th century in the field of Baroque paintings. His relatively few paintin ...

as an assistant in 1598 or 1599, and no doubt gave Elsheimer an introduction to Bril; when Elsheimer moved on to Rome he and Bril became close friends. Two drawings by Rottenhammer (now in Copenhagen) belonged to Elsheimer, and have an inscription noting they were a gift from Rottenhammer. Elsheimer's mature paintings are all small and on copper, and continue to develop Rottenhammer's synthesis of German and Italian styles, and use of landscape. Among his noted works are those painted for Emperor Rudolph II of Austria: ''Nativity'' (1608), ''Battle Between Centaurs and Lapithæ'', and four others, in the Vienna Museum.

Galleries

There are paintings in the main galleries in London, Munich (3), Augsburg, Berlin, Cambridge, St Petersberg, Amsterdam (2), Schwerin, Milan, Los Angeles, Dunedin and elsewhere. Most of his altarpieces and decorative schemes can still be seen in situ.

External links

Hans Rottenhammer on Artcyclopedia

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rottenhammer, Hans 1564 births 1625 deaths German Mannerist painters 16th-century German painters German male painters 17th-century German painters