Self-portrait
Bartholomäus Spranger (1546–1611)
c. 1586
this site may contain automatically translated text
Spranger was born in Antwerp, but had reached Italy before he was twenty, and was to remain there for a decade, working in Milan, Parma, Rome, and Caprarola. By 1575, he was working at the court of as above Emperor Maximilian II in Vienna, and probably only made his definitive move to the court of his successor, Rudolph II, in Prague in 1580, being named 'Hofmaler' (Court Painter) the following year. Spranger’s major activity was as a painter of highly original religious and mythological works, which at the same time reveal how profoundly he absorbed the influence of the school of Parma, and above all of its two principal representatives, Correggio (c. 1489–1534) and Parmigianino (1503–40).
For all his prolific activity in the spheres of sacred and profane art, and for all its remarkable assurance, the present work is almost the only portrait he ever executed. Another version of it, coincidentally in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, now measures 62.5 x 45 cm, and represents a kind of close-up of the composition here, but in all probability originally shared its more expansive format, before being cropped down. The other version retains traces of an inscription referring to the artist having painted himself, but in any event the penetrating, probing, uneasy gaze indicates that this must be a 'Self-Portrait'. On the other hand, Spranger, who – together with his two brothers – was ennobled in 1588, has not seen fit to include any of the attributes customarily associated with his profession.
- Material/technique
- oil on canvas
- Measurements
- 60 × 44 cm
- Acquisition
- historical family property
- Currently exhibited
- Garden Palace, permanent presentation
- Artists/makers/authors
- Bartholomäus Spranger
- Inventory number
- GE 946
- Provenance
- Historical family property, first mentioned in A. Kronfeld, Führer durch die Liechtenstein'sche Gemäldegalerie in Wien, Vienna 1931
- Iconography
- Self-portrait
A. Niederstein, U. Thieme - F. Becker, Bd. 31, Bd. Bd. 31, Leipzig 1937, S. 405
K. Oberhuber, Die stilistische Entwicklung im Werk Bartholomäus Sprangers, Dissertation Universität Wien 1959
Ausst.-Kat. Österreichische Meisterwerke aus Privatbesitz und Stiftsgalerien. Von der Spätgotik zum Barock, Rupert Feuchtmüller, Residenzgalerie Salzburg, Salzburg 21.6.1969–30.9.1969, erschienen Salzburg 1969, S. Nr. 77, Abb. 16
Ausst.-Kat. Deutsche Malerei. 15.–19. Jahrhundert. Aus den Sammlungen des Regierenden Fürsten von Liechtenstein, Reinhold Baumstark, Liechtensteinische Staatliche Kunstsammlung (Hg.), Liechtensteinische Staatliche Kunstsammlung, Vaduz 1979, erschienen Vaduz 1979, S. 44-45, Kat. 12
Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, L'école de Prague. La peinture à la Cour de Rodolphe II, Paris 1985, S. 295, Abb. 20-26
R. Juffinger, Ausst.-Kat. Fürsterzbischof Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau. Gründer des barocken Salzburg, Salzburg 1987, S. 380, Kat. 184
Eliška Fučíková (Hg.), Prag um 1600. Beiträge zur Kunst und Kultur am Hofe Rudolfs II., Sammelband, Freren 1988, S. 275, Kat. 153
Ausst.-Kat. The Grand Atelier Pathways of Art in Europe (5th - 18th Centuries), Roland Recht, erschienen Brüssel 2007, S. 323, Abb. S. 36, Kat. XIII.26
Ausst.-Kat. Halt und Zierde. Das Bild und sein Rahmen, Johann Kräftner, Robert Wald, Liechtenstein Museum, Wien 15.5.2009–12.1.2010, erschienen Wien 2009, Abb. S. 70, Kat. 74
Ausst.-Kat. Einzug der Künste in Böhmen. Malerei und Skulptur am Hof Kaiser Rudolfs II. in Prag, Johann Kräftner (Hg.), Liechtenstein Museum, Wien 20.11.2009–12.1.2010, erschienen Wien 2009, S. 50, Abb. S. 50, 51, Kat. 6
Ausst.-Kat. L'Automne de la Renaissance d'Arcimboldo à Caravage, Claire Stoullig, Flore Collette, Florence Portallégri, Diederick Bakhuÿs, Muriel Barbier, Bertrand Bergbauer, Michèle Bimbenet-Privat, u.a., erschienen Nancy 2013, S. 112, Abb. 113, Kat. 26
Ausst.-Kat. Bartholomeus Spranger. Splendor and Eroticism in Imperial Prague, Sally Metzler, erschienen New York/New Haven/London 2014, S. 113-115, Kat. Nr. 46
Ausst.-Kat. Crown of the Alps. Masterworks from the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, National Palace Museum, Taipei 17.4.2015–31.8.2015, erschienen Taipei City 2015, S. 88–89, Kat.-Nr. 20
Ausst.-Kat. Von Rubens bis Makart. Die Fürstlichen Sammlungen Liechtenstein, Klaus Albrecht Schröder (Hg.), Albertina, Wien 16.2.2019–10.6.2019, erschienen Köln 2019, S. 112–114, Kat.-Nr. 21
Ausst.-Kat. From Rubens to Makart. LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Klaus Albrecht Schröder (Hg.), Albertina, Wien 16.2.2019–10.6.2019, erschienen Köln 2019, S. 112–114, Kat.-Nr. 21
Ausst.-Kat. Liechtenstein. Von der Zukunft der Vergangenheit. Ein Dialog der Sammlungen, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz 19.9.2019–26.1.2020, erschienen Vaduz 2019, Einzelkarte in Sammelbox, o. S.
