Follower of Hans Rottenhammer (1564 - 1625), Assumption of the Virgin

Follower of Hans Rottenhammer (1564 - 1625) Assumption of the Virgin Oil on copper, 50 x 31.5 cm – with frame, 71 x 56 cm Published in the RKD This refined Assumption of the Virgin, an oil on copper that exudes a precious luminosity, represents a significant testament to the production of Hans Rottenhammer's workshop, an artist who masterfully interpreted the encounter between Northern precision and the compositional opulence of the Italian Renaissance. The work is arranged in two superimposed registers, following a canonical structure that sees the group of Apostles arranged around the empty tomb in the lower part. The figures, captured in lively and theatrical dynamism, express astonishment and devotion through eloquent gestures and gazes directed upwards, where the Virgin ascends to heaven. Mary, enveloped in a garment with silky reflections and a dark mantle that enhances her monumental figure, is surrounded by a host of angels and cherubs who seem to support her in a supernatural atmosphere imbued with golden light. The choice of copper as a support is not accidental: it was precisely during this period that the availability of the metal and the desire to achieve a brilliant, almost enameled chromatic rendering led many artists to prefer it for cabinet paintings. The iconographic and stylistic plan of this small copper reveals a direct debt to the Assumption of the Virgin created by Francesco Bassano for the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. This affinity is so marked that, in the past, the work was even attributed to Bassano himself. The Roman painting by Francesco, son of the famous Jacopo, had considerable critical success and became an essential model for the representation of the Marian dogma at the end of the sixteenth century. The success of this composition likely prompted several foreign painters passing through or residing in Italy, such as Rottenhammer, to study, reproduce, or copy the most significant works of local masters to satisfy the demands of a cultured and international clientele, eager to own high-quality replicas in small format. Hans Rottenhammer, born in Munich and trained under Hans Donauer the Elder, perfectly embodies the figure of the itinerant and learned painter of late Mannerism. After a stay in Rome between 1593 and 1594, where he came into contact with the early groups of Northern artists and Paul Bril, he settled in Venice from 1595 to 1606. It was in the lagoon that his art reached maturity, synthesizing the German landscape tradition with the compositional and figurative styles of Tintoretto and Veronese. The first German artist to specialize in cabinet paintings, he often collaborated with Jan Brueghel the Elder and Paul Bril, painting the figures on panels that were then completed with landscapes by his Flemish colleagues. After his Venetian success, also evidenced by the copy of Dürer's Feast of the Rosary and commissions for Emperor Rudolf II, he returned to Germany to Augsburg. Here he dedicated himself to large altarpieces and decorative cycles, such as those for the Residenz in Munich, moving towards a style closer to Northern Mannerism. Despite the greatness of his career and the influence he exerted on assistants of the caliber of Adam Elsheimer, Rottenhammer ended his days in poverty in 1625, leaving behind a fundamental legacy in the refinement of painting on copper and in the artistic dialogue between Northern and Southern Europe.