Karel Škreta

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Self portrait

Karel Škréta (full name Karel Škréta Šotnovský ze Závořic ; * 1610 in Prague , † July 30, 1674 ibid) was a Czech Baroque painter .

Life

Škréta was born in Prague as a descendant of the evangelical noble family Šotnovský ze Závořic , who originally operated mills in South Bohemia , but later settled in Kuttenberg and Prague. Trained at the Tein School ( Týnská škola ), he probably learned the art of painting from Rudolfiner masters at the royal court. The Dutch engraver Egidius Sadeler the Elder is likely to be one of his teachers . After the battle of the White Mountain , he and his mother fled to Freiberg in Saxony in 1628 , then to Venice , Bologna , Florence and Rome . Here he repeatedly came into contact with painting and got to know the works of Italian and Dutch masters. The painters Paolo Veronese , Jacopo Tintoretto and Tizian exerted a great influence on him . During this time he was already famous as a portrait painter. In 1635 he stayed in Freiberg again until he finally returned to Prague in 1638. He changed his faith and got his confiscated property back.

Škréta opened his studio in the old town in 1645 after joining the painters' guild the year before, of which he was the oldest from 1651 to 1661. Over time, he became one of the leading figures in Prague art and public life. In the time after his return, he created his monumental pictures with religious and mythological representations. These included above all the cycle in the Prague church of St. Wenceslas on Zderaz , the Assumption in the Church of St. Thomas on the Lesser Town and the altarpieces for the high altar and four side altars of the Leitmeritz cathedral, built between 1664 and 1668 . There are also his portraits, of which the group picture of the gemstone cutter Miseroni and his family became famous. But also “The man with long, flowing hair” or with portraits of Ignác Vitanovský z Vlčkovic or Maria Maximiliana von Sternberg ( Marie Maxmilián ze Šternberka ) he succeeded in realistically reproducing personalities living at the time.

Škréta is buried in the Church of St. Gall (Czech: Havel ) in Prague's Old Town.

  • The Birth of Saint Wenceslas (1640)

  • Portrait of the gemstone cutter Miseroni and his family (1653)

  • Paris and Helena (around 1672)

literature

Web links

Commons : Karel Škréta  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Škréta, Karel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Škréta Šotonovský ze Závořic, Karel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech baroque painter
DATE OF BIRTH 1610
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH July 30, 1674
Place of death Prague