Rudolph II ruled as king of Hungary from 1572, and as Holy Roman emperor between 1576 and 1608. He moved his imperial residence from Vienna to Prague, and the city soon became Europe’s centre of culture. The emperor invited the greatest artists and scholars of the age to his court, and he built up a rich art collection. The present exhibition features drawings by four of the German artists who served for many years as imperial court painters. Hans Hoffmann began his career in Nuremberg, and from 1585 until his death, he worked in the Prague court as a painter and art agent: through his mediation, the emperor acquired a number of original works by Dürer. Hoffmann was still living in Nuremberg at the time he made the works shown here: two copies after Dürer and some of his depictions of flora and fauna. Joseph Heintz the Elder painted in the Prague court from the early 1590s until his death, and travelled throughout Europe on behalf of the emperor, seeking works of art for his collection. His Allegory and his drawing of a female nude give us a clear sense of Rudolph II’s interest in unusual themes and erotic works. Hans von Aachen was appointed court painter by the emperor in 1592, but he did not move to Prague until 1596, where he painted portraits as well as pictures on allegorical and mythological themes. The full-length portrait of the emperor, shown here, can be directly connected with one of his paintings. Matthias Gundelach served as official court painter from 1592 onwards. His drawing illustrates an episode from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
The Age of DÜRER
