A Couple with a Mirror
circa 1595/1600 | Hans von Aachen
In this virtuoso composition the subject of male desire is not cloaked in mythology but rendered as a genre scene. The sexual connotation of the captive parrot suggests that the artist may have decided to set the scene in a brothel. However, the protagonist is clearly a self-portrait of the artist, giving the composition an ironical rather than a moralizing-judgemental sub-context. Hans von Aachen became court painter to Emperor Rudolf II in 1592, following in the footsteps of his younger fellow-artist Heintz, with whom he had already socialized during his extended Italian sojourn.
In this virtuoso composition the subject of male desire is not cloaked in mythology but rendered as a genre scene. The sexual connotation of the captive parrot suggests that the artist may have decided to set the scene in a brothel. However, the protagonist is clearly a self-portrait of the artist, giving the composition an ironical rather than a moralizing-judgemental sub-context. Hans von Aachen became court painter to Emperor Rudolf II in 1592, following in the footsteps of his younger fellow-artist Heintz, with whom he had already socialized during his extended Italian sojourn.
Artist:
Hans von Aachen (1552 Köln - 1615 Prag) DNB
Depiction/Person:
Hans von Aachen (1552 Köln - 1615 Prag) DNB
Time:
circa 1595/1600
Object Name
Painting
Culture
German
Material/technology:
copper
Dimensions:
Overall: 25,4 cm × 20 cm × 1,4 cm
Framed: 36,3 cm × 30,4 cm × 4 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 1155
Provenance
Probably from the collection of Emperor Rudolf II; 1621 in Prague; 1781 in Vienna in the gallery