Christoph Baumgartner

Amberger is one of the leading German portrait painters of the first half of the sixteenth century. His work is more deeply informed by Italian painting than that of any of his northern contemporaries, something to which the fluent handling and the imposing concept underlying this composition bear eloquent witness. Amberger shows us that the sitter, a scion of one of Augsburg’s prosperous merchant families, is well aware of his elevated rank and status: Christoph Baumgartner became a member of the city’s aristocracy in 1538 and repeatedly held public office. The composition with its window-like view of a distant landscape is in keeping with a traditional type of Netherlands portraiture, while the rich and harmonious colouration of the picture is reminiscent of Venetian painting. The selfconfident posture of the subject also reflects the influence of Italian art.