Hans von Aachen
Hans von Aachen was a German painter who was one of the leading representatives of Northern Mannerism. Hans von Aachen was a versatile and productive artist who worked in many genres and he was successful as a painter of princely and aristocratic portraits, and further painted religious and allegorical subjects. Known for his skill in the depiction of nudes, his mythological scenes were particulzarly enjoyed by his principal patron. These remain the works for which he is best known and he painted a number of genre paintings of small groups of figures shown from the chest upwards, often apparently using himself and his wife as models. Von Aachen usually worked on a scale and many of his works are cabinet paintings on copper. The life and work of Hans von Aachen bear unique witness to the transfer between North and Central Europe in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. After training in the tradition of Netherlandish Renaissance painting the artist moved to Italy in 1574 and he returned in 1587 to his native Germany, where he took up residence in Munich in Bavaria.
His final years were spent in Prague, the combination of the Netherlandish realism of his training and the Italian influences gained during his travels gave rise to his unique painting style. His presence in the important art centres of the time, the distribution of prints after his designs. Hans von Aachen was born in Cologne and his surname is derived from the birthplace of his father, Aachen in Germany. Hans von Aachen began painting in Germany as a pupil of the portrait painter Georg Jerrigh and he probably joined the Cologne painters guild before leaving for Italy around 1574. Like many northern artists of his time, such as the Flemish painter Bartholomeus Spranger and he lived in Venice from 1574 to 1587 where he became a member of the Netherlandish and German community of artists and art dealers. He was active as a copyist and worked in the workshop of the Flemish painter, Rem arranged for von Aachen to go through an apprenticeship with an artist referred to as Morett. This apprenticeship involved making copies of works in Venices churches.
Many of these copies were destined for the Northern-European art market, a contemporary art collector and dealer in Antwerp by the name of Hermann de Neyt had a collection of nearly 850 original and copied paintings, of which six were by Hans von Aachen. Von Aachen went to Rome in 1575, here he studied the antique sculptures and the works of Italian masters. He became a member of the circle of artists active in Rome such as Otto van Veen, Joris Hoefnagel. He was able to secure a commission for a Nativity for the Church of the Gesù, in Florence in the years 1582–3 he established a reputation for his portraits, which led to commissions from the ruling Medici family
Hanover
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Electorate was enlarged to become a Kingdom with Hanover as its capital. From 1868 to 1946 Hanover was the capital of the Prussian Province of Hanover and it is now the capital of the Land of Lower Saxony. Since 2001 it has been part of the Hanover district, which is a body made up from the former district. With a population of 518,000, Hanover is a centre of Northern Germany. Hanover hosts annual commercial trade fairs such as the Hanover Fair, every year Hanover hosts the Schützenfest Hannover, the worlds largest marksmens festival, and the Oktoberfest Hannover, the second largest such festival in Germany. In 2000, Hanover hosted the world fair Expo 2000, the Hanover fairground, due to numerous extensions, especially for the Expo 2000, is the largest in the world. Hanover is of importance because of its universities and medical school, its international airport. The city is a crossing point of railway lines and highways. Hanover is the traditional English spelling, the German spelling is becoming more popular in English, recent editions of encyclopaedias prefer the German spelling, and the local government uses the German spelling on English websites.
The traditional English spelling is used in historical contexts, especially when referring to the British House of Hanover. Hanover was founded in times on the east bank of the River Leine. Its original name Honovere may mean high bank, though this is debated, Hanover was a small village of ferrymen and fishermen that became a comparatively large town in the 13th century due to its position at a natural crossroads. As overland travel was difficult, its position on the upper navigable reaches of the river helped it to grow by increasing trade. In the 14th century the churches of Hanover were built. The beginning of industrialization in Germany led to trade in iron and silver from the northern Harz Mountains, in 1636 George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruler of the Brunswick-Lüneburg principality of Calenberg, moved his residence to Hanover. The Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg were elevated by the Holy Roman Emperor to the rank of Prince-Elector in 1692, thus the principality was upgraded to the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, colloquially known as the Electorate of Hanover after Calenbergs capital.
Its electors would become monarchs of Great Britain, the first of these was George I Louis, who acceded to the British throne in 1714. The last British monarch who ruled in Hanover was William IV, semi-Salic law, which required succession by the male line if possible, forbade the accession of Queen Victoria in Hanover
Arnold Houbraken
Arnold Houbraken was a Dutch painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of artists from the Dutch Golden Age. Houbraken was sent first to learn threadtwisting from Johannes de Haan, after two years he studied art with Willem van Drielenburch, who he was with during the rampjaar, the year 1672. He studied 9 months with Jacobus Leveck and finally, four years with Samuel van Hoogstraten, in 1685 he married Sara Sasbout, and around 1709 he moved from Dordrecht to Amsterdam. Arnold Houbraken painted mythological and religious paintings and landscapes and his first attempt at an instructive manual for artists was his Emblem book, Inhoud van t Sieraad der Afbeelding, which was meant as a guide of possible painting themes. His registered pupils were Matthijs Balen, Johan Graham, and his son Jacob and his son Jacobus Houbraken was an engraver of portraits and book illustrations, including books by his father. His daughter Antonina Houbraken became an engraver for an Amsterdam publisher and his daughter Christina Houbraken was an artist.
Arnold Houbrakens books sold well during the entire 18th century. Jacob Campo Weyerman published his version in serial form that was published as a complete set in 1769. Houbrakens engravings of the artists are in cases the only surviving portraits of these people. The first to make a sequel to Houbrakens work was Johan van Gool in 1750-51. Houbraken was very careful to check and double check his sources, excepting those cases where the artist died quite young, or whose oeuvre was lost during various wars, very few artists were included in the Schouburg who do not hang in international museums today. The first modern art historian to publish an update of his work was Adriaan van der Willigen, since he has remained a valuable resource for art historians. The Schouburgh is part of the Basic Library of the dbnl which contains the 1000 most important works in Dutch literature from the Middle Ages to today
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization.
The city is the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V.
This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
Basel
Basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerlands third-most-populous city with about 175,000 inhabitants, located where the Swiss and German borders meet, Basel has suburbs in France and Germany. In 2014, the Basel agglomeration was the third largest in Switzerland with a population of 537,100 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland, the official language of Basel is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. Basel has been the seat of a Prince-Bishopric since the 11th century, the city has been a commercial hub and important cultural centre since the Renaissance, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in the 20th century. It hosts the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation, There are settlement traces on the Rhine knee from the early La Tène period. The unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an Oppidum on the site of Basel Minster, probably in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul.
In Roman Gaul, Augusta Raurica was established some 20 km from Basel as the administrative centre. The city of Basel eventually grew around the castle, the name of Basel is derived from the Roman-era toponym Basilia, first recorded in the 3rd century. It is presumably derived from the personal name Basilius, the Old French form Basle was adopted into English, and developed into the modern French Bâle. The Icelandic name Buslaraborg goes back to the 12th century Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan, Basel was incorporated into Germania Superior in AD83. Roman control over the area deteriorated in 3rd century, and Basel became an outpost of the Provincia Maxima Sequanorum formed by Diocletian, the Alamanni attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled. In a great invasion of AD406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river a final time and settling what is today Alsace, from this time, Basel has been an Alemannic settlement. The Duchy of Alemannia fell under Frankish rule in the 6th century, and by the 7th century, based on the evidence of a third solidus with the inscription Basilia fit, Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century.
Under bishop Haito, the first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle, at the partition of the Carolingian Empire, Basel was first given to West Francia, but passed to East Francia with the treaty of Meerssen of 870. The city was plundered and destroyed by a Magyar invasion of 917, the rebuilt city became part of Upper Burgundy, and as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. Since the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II in 999 till the Reformation, in 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel began under German Emperor Heinrich II. In 1225–1226, the Bridge over the Rhine was constructed by Bishop Heinrich von Thun, the bridge was largely funded by Basels Jewish community which had settled there a century earlier. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river between Lake Constance and the sea, the Bishop allowed the furriers to found a guild in 1226
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Concertgebouw. The Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague in 1800 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, the current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened its doors in 1885. On 13 April 2013, after a renovation which cost €375 million. In 2013 and 2014, it was the most visited museum in the Netherlands with record numbers of 2.2 million and 2.47 million visitors and it is the largest art museum in the country. The museum has a small Asian collection, which is on display in the Asian pavilion, in 1795, the Batavian Republic was proclaimed. The Minister of Finance Isaac Gogel argued that a museum, following the French example of The Louvre. On 19 November 1798, the government decided to found the museum, on 31 May 1800, the National Art Gallery, precursor of the Rijksmuseum, opened its doors in Huis ten Bosch in The Hague.
The museum exhibited around 200 paintings and historic objects from the collections of the Dutch stadtholders, in 1805, the National Art Gallery moved within The Hague to the Buitenhof. In 1806, the Kingdom of Holland was established by Napoleon Bonaparte, on the orders of king Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, the museum moved to Amsterdam in 1808. The paintings owned by city, such as The Night Watch by Rembrandt. In 1809, the museum opened its doors in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, in 1817, the museum moved to the Trippenhuis. The Trippenhuis turned out to be unsuitable as a museum, in 1820, the historical objects were moved to the Mauritshuis in The Hague, and in 1838 the 19th-century paintings were moved to Paviljoen Welgelegen in Haarlem. In 1863, there was a design contest for a new building for the Rijksmuseum, Pierre Cuypers participated in the contest and his submission reached the second place. In 1876 a new contest was held and this time Pierre Cuypers won, the design was a combination of gothic and renaissance elements.
The construction began on 1 October 1876, on both the inside and the outside, the building was richly decorated with references to Dutch art history. Another contest was held for these decorations, the winners were B. van Hove and J. F. Vermeylen for the sculptures, G. Sturm for the tile tableaus and painting and W. F. Dixon for the stained glass. The museum was opened at its new location on 13 July 1885, in 1890 a new building was added a short distance to the south-west of the Rijksmuseum
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Museum of Fine Arts, located in the Houston Museum District, Houston, is one of the largest museums in the United States. The permanent collection of the museum more than 6,000 years of history with approximately 64,000 works from six continents. The museum benefits the Houston community through programs and media presentations, each year,1.25 million people benefit from museums programs and resource centers. Of that total, more than 500,000 people participate in the community outreach programs, the MFAHs permanent collection totals 63,718 pieces in 270,000 square feet of exhibition space, placing it among the larger art museums in the United States. The museums collections and programs are housed in seven facilities, the main buildings have 130,000 square feet of exhibition space. Caroline Wiess Law Building – the original building was designed in phases by architect William Ward Watkin. The original Caroline Wiess Law building was constructed in 1924 and the east and west wing were added in 1926, the Robert Lee Blaffer Memorial Wing was designed by Kenneth Franzheim and opened to the public in 1953.
The new construction included significant structural improvements to several existing galleries—most notably, two subsequent additions, Cullinan Hall and the Brown Pavilion, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe were built in 1958 and 1974 respectively. This section of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston campus is the only Mies-designed museum in the United States, the museum Trustees elected to name the building after Audrey Jones Beck in honor of the large collection she had donated to the museum several decades prior. The new building will occupy a two-acre museum-owned site that is currently a parking lot, the new MFAH building will be integrated with the adjacent Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden and an expanded Glassell School of Art. It will include 25 galleries for traveling exhibitions, educational areas, a library, lecture halls, a theater, the museum expects the project to cost $250 million to $350 million with the design process taking about two years, followed by five years of construction.
The Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden – was designed by US-born artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi, the garden itself is a sculpture that unites the pathways between the Caroline Wiess Law Building and the Glassell School of Art. Glassell School of Art – founded in 1979 and designed by architect S. I, the Glassell School of Art offers programs under the Studio School for Adults. The Glassell School of Art serves as the wing of the MFAH, with a variety of classes and educational opportunities for students diverse in age, experience. In 2014, Steven Holl designed a new L-shaped building for the school, the school offers classes at the Studio School for Adults and the Glassell Junior School, as well as Community Bridge Programs, special programs for youths, and the Core Artist-in-Residence Program. The MFAH is the museum facility in the United States that has a special building dedicated solely to art classes for children. Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens – features one of the nations finest collections of American decorative art, the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, former home of Life Trustee Ima Hogg, was designed by architect John F.
Staub in 1927. Miss Hogg donated the property to the MFAH in 1957, followed, in 1962, by the donation of its collection of paintings, ceramics, metals, Bayou Bend was officially dedicated and opened to the public in 1966
Lower Saxony State Museum
The Lower Saxony State Museum is a museum in Hanover, Germany. It is located opposite the New City Hall, the museum comprises the State Gallery, featuring paintings and sculptures from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, plus departments of archaeology, natural history and ethnology. The museum includes a vivarium with fish, reptiles, the museums forerunner was the Museum of Art and Science, inaugurated in 1856 in the presence of George V of Hanover. Based in the present-day Hanover Künstlerhaus, it was renamed the Museum of the Province of Hanover or Provincial Museum. The museum soon ran out of space for its art collections, prompting the construction of the current building, on the edge of the Maschpark and it was designed by Hubert Stier in a Neo-Renaissance style. The buildings relief frieze, titled Key Moments in the Evolution of Humanity, was created by the Hanoverian artist Georg Herting in partnership with Karl Gundelach and it was renamed the State Museum in 1933, and finally the Lower Saxony State Museum of Hanover in 1950.
The cupola above the central risalit was destroyed by Allied bombs during the war, extensive renovations and modernisations were carried out in the buildings interior from 1995 to 2000. The reopening took place on 13 May as part of Expo 2000, the State Gallery features art from the 11th to the 20th centuries. Some of the artists include Rembrandt and Albrecht Dürer. Caspar David Friedrichs four-piece Tageszeitenzyklus is the only such series by Friedrich in a single museum. The Lower Saxony State Museum has an archaeological collection, containing some unique finds. The archaeology department is supported by the Lower Saxony State Society of Prehistory, the ethnological collection is among the oldest in German-speaking territory, and includes around 20,000 artworks and everyday artefacts from all parts of the world. A wide range of religions and cultures in America, Africa and Asia is displayed through the findings of explorers, the Lower Saxony State Museum regularly hosts temporary exhibitions on changing themes.
The museum offers its own pest control facility for infested artworks and artefacts, heide Grape-Albers, Das Niedersächsische Landesmuseum Hannover 2002. 150 Jahre Museum in Hannover –100 Jahre Gebäude am Maschpark, festschrift commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Maschpark building. Lower Saxony State Museum, Hanover,2002, ur- und Frühgeschichtliche Goldfunde aus Niedersachsen. Lower Saxony State Museum, Oldenburg,2003
National Gallery of Denmark
National Gallery of Denmark is the Danish national gallery located in the centre of Copenhagen. The museum collects, maintains and handles Danish, the major part of the museums older collections comes from the art chambers of Danish kings. The display of European Art 1300–1800 is a collection of art over the 500-year period, featuring works by Mantegna, Titian, Rubens. The art is spread over thirteen rooms, and is the oldest art collection in Denmark, with a emphasis on Danish, Flemish, French, Spanish. Danish and Nordic Art 1750-1900 charts Scandinavian art from the beginnings of Danish painting through the ‘Golden Age’ to the birth of Modernism and it displays over 400 works through 24 galleries. It features work by Abildgaard, Eckersberg, Købke, Ring, SMK gained its modern French art collection in 1928 when it was donated by the late collector Johannes Rump. This collection features some of the museum’s most famous pieces from artists such as Matisse, Picasso and Braque. The collection was first offered to the SMK by Rump in 1923, housed in the museum’s 1993 extension, this 20th and 21st century collection is predominantly focused on the most important examples of modern Danish art.
A long corridor of paintings looking onto Østre Anlæg park works as an overview of the work from this period. The beginnings of this collection were made around the time of Christian II, in his diary from 1521 the German painter Albrecht Dürer says he has given the King the best pieces of all my prints. In 1843 the various works, which had so far been the private collection, were displayed to the public. It was moved into the Statens Museum for Kunst when the first building was completed in 1896, along with The Royal Collection of Paintings, although the papers contain a great number of foreign works, Danish art constitutes the main part of the collection. This collection is open to the public through the Print Room, the Royal Cast Collection is held at the West India Warehouse, Toldbodgade 40, between The Little Mermaid and Nyhavn in Copenhagen. It consists of over 2,000 naked plaster casts of statues and reliefs from collections, temples, the Royal Cast Collection is only open for special events.
At the start of the Second World War the art of antiquity became increasingly unfashionable, associated with an archaic artistic tradition. In 1966, as abstract art became popular, the Royal Cast Collection was removed to a barn outside Copenhagen for storage. The collections of the Danish National Gallery originate in the Art Chamber of the Danish monarchs, when the German Gerhard Morell became Keeper of Frederick Vs Art Chamber about 1750, he suggested that the king create a separate collection of paintings. To ensure that the collection was not inferior to those of other European royal houses and local counts, the collection became particularly well provided with Flemish and Dutch art
Media related to Pieter Isaacsz. at Wikimedia Commons
