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 is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, 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 Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and he then settled in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

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

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, 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 in either dimension, but often much smaller. The term is especially used for paintings that show full-length figures or landscapes at a small scale, rather th ...

s on copper, of religious and mythological subjects, combining German and Italian elements of style. The use of copper supports for painting was increasingly popular in this period due to greater availability of copper, as well as a desire to replicate the impact it had on painted subjects, imbuing them with luminosity (for which Rottenhammer was well known). In particular he combines the landscape tradition of the North with the compositional and figure styles of

Tintoretto Jacopo Robusti (late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594), best known as Tintoretto ( ; , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized th ...

and

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * Veronese (moth), ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte 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 pa ...

'', 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 painters active in Rome from about 1625 until the end of the seventeenth century. Most were Dutch and Flemish artists who brought existing traditions of depicting peasant subjects from sixteenth-century Netherl ...

, 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 Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter and printmaker principally known for his Landscape art, landscapes.Nicola Courtright. "Paul Bril." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. ...

, 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 painting, Flemish painter and Draughtsmanship, draughtsman. He was the younger son of the eminent Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish ...

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 Ho ...

(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 a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. 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, es ...

than his Italian work. He is believed to have employed

Adam Elsheimer 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 paintings were sma ...

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 Rudolf II ( – 10 May 1290), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria and Styria from 1282 to 1283, jointly with his elder brother Albert I, who succeeded him. Biography Rudolf II was born in Rheinfelden, Swabia, the young ...

: ''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