Jacopo de' Barbari
Jacopo de ' Barbari (c. 1460-70 in Venice; † before July 1516 in Mechelen) was an Italian painter and engraver, the north of the Alps worked in various places as a court artist.
Year of birth and identity
Very little is known of Jacopo de ' Barbari teenage years, even his real name has long been unclear. In Venice, he could have been the painter Jacometto alias alias Iacomo Jacomo de Barberino Veneziano, whose works were part of several Venetian art collections. The Nuremberg biographer Johann Neudörffer the Elder called him in 1547 in his work on the Nuremberg artist " Jacob, Walch named painter", and there in Venice, the German author and printer Georg Walch lived 1479-1482, the father would be in age be may you have long speculated. Ever since a receipt from the year 1510 found that carries the signature " Jacobus de Barbari ," the speculation to an end. Ironically, from Nuremberg came an old information about his birth: The Nuremberg engraver Johann Fennitzer left behind a fictional portrait of him with the inscription " Jacob Walch painter in Nuremberg A. 1436 ," which was adopted as his year of birth. There are many images of Fennitzer have proved to be inventions, including this birth may be doubted. In a recent study it is assumed 1475 as date of birth. At least as the birthplace of Venice is now widely recognized.
The Venice plan of 1500
De ' Barbari was based, among others, Giovanni Bellini. By the year 1500 he was in Venice, where he 1498-1500 anfertigte a large and very detailed plan that shows Venice from the air and is a masterpiece of printmaking his time. For three centuries the six wooden printing plates Venice this plan were used. Prints which can be found today in many museums in Europe, such as Venice, London, St. Petersburg, Krakow, Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig, Coburg, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Weimar, Erlangen, and not least in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg. A total of 11 copies still exist throughout the world from the year 1500, all other prints are from 1514 or after. The six original wood panels are still preserved in Venice Correr Museum. The special feature of the plan are the very detailed faithful reproduction of the lagoon city; always be used to get out of time to show buildings of Venice in 1500 details of that pressure. The extraordinary dimensions of the plan - a total of 139 times 282 centimeters - give an impressive picture of the lagoon city.
1500-1503 royal court painter in Nuremberg
1500 Jacopo de ' Barbari went to Germany, where he, that is, the Welsche representing the new position of court painter inspired by the antique came under the name of Jacob Walch to great prestige. At first he was from April 1500 in Nuremberg at the service of the King ( and later Emperor ) Maximilian I. There Albrecht Dürer learned to know him, who reported that Jacopo de ' Barbari had introduced him to the theory of proportion of painting. A source of the late 16th century called him as a teacher of Hans von Kulmbach, which will be exaggerated, even if a significant influence can be detected. In Nuremberg, there are numerous other artists, in which its influence is noticeable, for example, Hans Vischer Apollo figure and St. Sebald.
1504-1506 electoral court painter in Saxony
He then worked from April 1504 to end December 1506 as court painter of Frederick III. of Saxony. He was then living in the residence Wittenberg and at times also on the hunting lodge Lochau (now Anna castle ) and wrong in the humanist circles of the 1502 newly founded university. From this period dates the famous Munich Still Life " Partridge and Iron Gloves ", which represents the first autonomous and signed representation of inanimate objects in the post-classical painting. Jacopo's successor as court painter to the Electorate of Saxony was Lucas Cranach the Elder.
Life and work from 1506
Between 1506 and 1510 Jacopo de ' Barbari worked for the Mecklenburg Duke Henry V and the Brandenburg Elector Joachim I.. Most recently, he worked as a court painter to the Archduchess Margarete in Mechelen, where he died in 1516.
His work
His paintings are rare. A Madonna with two Saints in Paris and a Madonna with two saints and the donor in the Berlin Museum show quite the bellineske The Art Gallery of Weimar has a head of Christ, the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, a still life of 1504.
His paintings and engravings usually wear a caduceus as a character. Therefore it is also called Master of the Caduceus.