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The most famous portrait of Emperor Rudolph II by the German painter Hans von Aachen will be displayed from 1st July to 3rd October at Prague Castle’s Imperial Stable.
The portrait was painted in 1605 at the Emperor’s court in Prague, where Aachen was the Emperor’s court painter. After the Emperor’s death, his collections gradually started to disappear. The first big blow came from Rudolph’s brother Mathias, who transported approximately two thousand paintings to Vienna. This is more than the Swedish army, which, when plundering Prague, took away about 500 paintings, books and other valuable items.
The painting left Prague immediately after death
“It is not clear, what exactly happened to the portrait, as Rudolph’s brother Mathias took many of Aachen’s paintings to Vienna. It is most likely that this portrait was among them,” said the co-author of the exhibition project Eliška Fučíková. She also mentioned the well-known story how Mathias locked himself in the Kunstkammer to choose his loot.
Emperor’s favourite painter
The portrait was commissioned by the Emperor himself. “Rudolph II was very friendly to Aachen. The painter had almost unrestricted access to the Emperor, as opposed to Mathias, who had to wait for three months to get an audience” said Ms. Fučíková.
Hunter for good art
Hans von Aachen was not only the Emperor’s painter, he also looked for high quality pieces of art for him. “After visiting an interesting ducal collection in Italy, he sent a list of interesting paintings that the Emperor should have a look at,” said Fučíková.
“What followed was the Emperor‘s request if he could get these things as a gift. Ducal courts often obliged to him, as it brought them certain advantages, mainly Rudolph’s favour. This was good for the Emperor, since he did not have to pay for the paintings and other pieces of art. Thanks to Aachen, Rudolph also bought the Feast of Rose Garlands by Dürer, which is still in Prague.
Why is the painting so extraordinary?
Art experts value Aachen’s painting for its incredibly realistic expression. “At that time, official portraits lacked soul,” said Fučíková. “I have the picture on my computer, I watch it on the screen and see that every layer of colour depicts an aspect of Rudolph’s face and relates the feeling that one can speak. It is a true expression of the soul, not only an official portrait. The interest in people as soulful beings is, in fact, characteristic of Aachen.”
Erotika will not be displayed
Aachen, who influenced a number of European artists, will be presented in Prague with works that have not yet been seen in Prague. His range of themes was very large from erotic paintings to sacral.
“We will not see Erotika, which has disappeared over the years, and we did not manage to borrow the one preserved painting from a private collection,” said Fučíková. One of the unique paintings at the exhibition will be the painting from Prague’s St. Jacob’s Church. “It is the Virgin Mary with a child in a floral framing, which is probably the oldest type of a Madonna in garlands ever made in Europe,” Fučíková pointed out.
Exceptional exhibition
Although Hans von Aachen means that he came from Aachen, he spent most of his life in Prague, where he was also buried in St. Vitus Cathedral. The exhibition has been created in co-operation with the Kunsthistorical Museum, Vienna, Suermondt Ludwig Museum, Aachen and the Prague Castle Administration. The initial impulse came from Aachen. Thanks to the participation of these three institutions, the gathered items make the exhibition truly unique. Visitors will have the chance to see paintings from Romanian Sibiu, Bratislava, Moscow, Italian museums, France, Austria and other countries.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t borrow paintings from America, although there is a very interesting collection of Aachen’s paintings, as it would be financially impossible for us to borrow these paintings,” says Fučíková. Interesting paintings include e.g. Judith getting ready to go to an army camp (formerly passed off as a painting of St. Catherine), a beautiful portrait of a boy with a bunch of grapes, the boy being Aachen’s son, allegory of peace and other mythological scenes. The painting of Diana resting after hunting, which was not in Aachen and will not even be in Vienna, got to Prague from the Lichtenstein collections.
“We had helped the Lichtenstein family to purchase this painting, which ever since the Swedes took it away from Prague to Stockholm, had never left the Swedish territory and the loan is their way to thank us for our help,” explained Fučíková.
Source: www.praha.eu
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