Circle of Hans von Aachen | Umkreis von Hans von Aachen

Private collection, Germany.

H. Friedl, 'Matthias oder Ferdinand II?: Gedanken zum Leitbild der Ausstellung "400 Jahre Kaiserbesuch in Preimd 1612–2012"', in 'Der Stadtturm': Heimatkundlicher und Historischer Arbeitskreis Pfreimd e.V, 2013, no. 29, pp. 39-47;

T. Fusenig, 'Eine Darstellung von Kaiser Matthias im deutschen Krönungsornat', in Studia Rudolphina, 17-18, 2018, pp. 85–94, reproduced (as After Hans von Aachen).

Pfreimd, Schloss Pfreimd, 400 Jahre Kaiserbesuch in Pfreimd 1612–2012, 7–15 July 2012;

Linz, Schlossmuseum Linz, Des Kaisers Kulturhauptstadt–Linz um 1600, 16 July–11 September 2012;

Wittstock, Kreismuseen Alte Bischofsburg, September–December 2013, on loan;

Schmalkalden, Museum Schloss Wilhelmsburg, Der Dreißisgjährige Krieg aus der Perspektive von unten, 9 December 2013–1 February 2014;

Cologne, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, Köln in unheiligen Zeiten. Die Stadt im Dreißisgjährigen Krieg, 14 June–10 May 2014.

This large and imposing portrait of the Habsburg Emperor Matthias I records his likeness soon after he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor on 13 June 1612.¹ Ornately attired in a twelfth-century Sicilian red-silk mantle, he wears the octagonal Reichskrone adorned with precious gems and pearls. This is the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, which is today preserved in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna.² His additional roles as King of Hungary (1608-1618) and King of Bohemia (1611-1617) are affirmed in the armorial devices of each Kingdom on the table at left: Hungary with the crown at the foot of a cross and Bohemia with the silver lion against a red background. Near the crests is the black eagle, an emblem of the Holy Roman Empire, holding the Imperial sceptre above the Imperial orb, which also rests on the table. To the right of the Emperor is Bellona, the Roman Goddess of War, who is often associated iconographically with Matthias.³ Here, she is shown kneeling with a symbol of victory in one hand and a dove in the other, perhaps to signal the Emperor as a peaceful victor.⁴

Hans von Aachen painted several portraits of Emperor Matthias, and the present canvas may derive from a lost original painted by an artist within Von Aachen's circle. Indeed, a bill drawn up by Von Aachen’s widow in July 1615 references his portraits of the Emperor, particularly noting representations of the Emperor in Hungarian and German attire.⁵ Other known portraits of the Emperor include two full-length examples by the artist and his workshop today in the Prague Castle Picture Gallery,⁶ and in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.⁷ In both of those examples, however, Matthias is shown with the Crown of Saint Wenceslas worn by the King of Bohemia, as opposed to the Reichskrone he wears in the present example. 

Further ideas as to the hand responsible for the present work can be surmised from the monogram IG next to the number 12 (possibly for the year 1612) in the lower left corner of the Emperor’s robe. This may be the monogram of the Prague artist Jeremias (Hieronymus) Günther, who worked closely with Joseph Heintz the Elder.⁸ After serving as imperial chamber artist to Rudolf II, Günther assumed the same role under Matthias, who summoned him and Von Aachen to Vienna in 1612. Although he only served the Emperor until 1619, Günther remained in Prague, where he fostered a bustling and diverse career as an artist, clothing designer, and advisor to other collections. Very few confirmed works are known by Günther, but a full-length portrait by him of the Matthias's wife, Empress Anna, that is also monogrammed IG and dated 1612 is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.⁹

Matthias was born on 24 February 1557 to Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II and Maria of Spain. One of the couple’s nine surviving children, Matthias was the younger brother of Rudolf II (1552–1612) and Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595).¹⁰ As the sixteenth century neared its end, Matthias was increasingly at odds politically with his eldest brother, Rudolf, who succeeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor in 1576. This gained strength after Ernest’s death in 1595, and in the decade that followed, Matthias would align with two of his younger brothers and two cousins in opposition to Rudolf, whom they wanted to oust as Emperor and head of the family. Matthias ascended the roles of Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, and King of Croatia in 1608, after he convinced Rudolf to sign a treaty that redistributed power between the brothers. Matthias assumed Rudolf’s role of King of Bohemia in 1611 (a role he held for six years), and in the same year, he married his cousin Archduchess Anna of Austria. After Rudolf’s death in January 1612, Matthias was elected Holy Roman Emperor, after which he moved the court back to Vienna from Prague. Some of the aforementioned information about Matthias’ life is referenced in the inscription along the lower edge of this painting. Although the text ends with an expression of desire for a very long reign, Matthias only ruled for a few years until his death in 1619. 

¹ This painting is discussed in depth in an article recently published by Thomas Fusenig in 2018 (see Literature). His comprehensive article informs much of this catalogue entry. 

² Schatzkammer inv. no.WS XIII 1, dating from the second half of the 10^th century, gold, enamel, gemstones and pearls.

³ Indeed, the figure of Bellona appears also in a print designed by Bartholomeus Spranger and dedicated to Emperor Matthias and his victory over the Ottomans in the late 16^th century. See for example: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1853-0312-61 .

⁴ The head of the dove has been lost during a past restoration campaign. 

⁵ As noted by Fusenig 2018, p. 91. Also noted by T. DaCosta Kaufmann in The School of Prague: Painting at the Court of Rudolf II, Chicago 1988, pp. 160–61, under cat. nos. 1.84 and 1.85.

⁶ Oil on canvas, 184.5 x 116.5 cm. See DaCosta Kaufmann 1988, pp. 160-61, cat. no. 1.84, reproduced.

⁷ Inv. no. 3254, oil on canvas, 200 x 98 cm,

⁸ As DaCosta Kaufmann notes, there are very few confirmed works known by the artist, but the one signed drawing by Günther is a copy after a work by Joseph Heintz, further confirming the connection between the two. 

⁹ Inv. no. 3092, oil on canvas, 188 x 122.5 cm., monogrammed and dated IG 1612. See DaCosta Kaufmann 1988, p. 178, under cat. no. 5.1, reproduced. 

¹⁰ His other surviving siblings included Anna (Queen of Spain), Elisabeth (Queen of France), Maximilian III (Archduke of Austria), Albert VII (Archduke of Austria), Archduke Wenceslaus, and Archduchess Margaret.