Hans Besser (painter)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hans Besser: Archduchess Maria, Duchess of Jülich-Kleve-Berg , City Museum, State Capital Düsseldorf
Hans Besser: Friedrich II of the Palatinate, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

Hans Besser was 1546, painter at the court of Elector Palatine Frederick II. Both birth year as year of death, this portrait painter of the Renaissance are unknown. He worked at the court of Friedrich after he had succeeded his brother in 1544. After Friedrich's death in 1556, the name Bessers is found as court painter to Elector Ottheinrich of the Palatinate . Little is known of his résumé that is considered certain.

Master of the Palatine and Margraves

Portrait painter in particular was better . Before these portraits could be assigned to the painter Hans Besser (or in the spelling Hans Pesserer ), which can be proven in documents , they were led by masters of the palatine and margraves . This emergency name was given to the painter because of the frequent depiction of the princes of the Palatinate.

resume

As the court painter to Elector Friedrich II, Hans Besser was also known as Hans von Köln . He was probably born in Aachen, left Cologne in 1537 because of persecution of his faith and found refuge in the Palatinate. He became a citizen of the city of Speyer , probably after renouncing extreme elements of his faith. Then active in Heidelberg from 1546 , his trace is lost after 1556 at Ottheinrich's court. The painter and cartographer Wilhelm Besserer , who was probably his son, also lived in Speyer .

Works (selection)

The paintings by Hans Besser known today are almost exclusively portraits of high-ranking aristocrats of his time. So are him z. B. assigned to the following plants:

Two copper engravings with interior views of the Speyer Cathedral are also attributed to the master .

Style and art historical evaluation

Hans Besser was not one of the leading and also not a style-forming painters of the Renaissance in German-speaking countries. His cool portraits with their motionless poses and rigid facial expressions of those portrayed show a distanced view that seems to follow a sober objectivity of the Dutch painting of the time of the Reformation .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Warmbrunn: The work of the painter and cartographer Wilhelm Besserer for the Imperial Court of Justice in Speyer in the 16th century . In: Mitteilungen des Historisches Verein der Pfalz Vol. 105 (2007) pp. 151–179
  2. ↑ B. Schock-Werner: Two interior views of the Speyer Cathedral. - In: Munich Yearbook of Fine Arts. 3rd Series, 47 (1996), pp. 94-102.

literature

  • K. Holes: Hans Besser - The Master of the Palatine and Margrave . (With a contribution by Barbara. Schock-Werner) In: Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, 3rd episode, 47 (1996), pp. 73-102
  • Hans Besser . In: Art Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art, Oxford University Press Online Edition 2002, accessed April 2010
  • Holes, Kurt: Hans Besser . In: Saur. General Artists' Lexicon, Vol. 10, Munich / Leipzig 1995, pp. 208-209.
  • Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe: The renaissance in the southwest of Germany between the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War . Catalog. Vol. 1. Karlsruhe 1986

Web links

Commons : Hans Besser  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Better, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Painter at the court of the Palatinate Elector Friedrich II.
DATE OF BIRTH 15th century or 16th century
DATE OF DEATH 16th century or 17th century