Bartholomaeus Spranger
Born 21 March 1546, in Antwerp; died August 1611, in Prague.
Painter, engraver (etching).
Prague School.
Bartholomaeus Spranger was the son of the rich Antwerp merchant Joachim Spranger. He showed a marked talent for painting and became a pupil of Jan Mandyn in Haarlem in 1557, and then of Frans Mostaert and Cornelis van Dalem. He worked in Paris with Marc Duval the Deaf and became acquainted with works of the Fontainebleau masters. He then went to Lyons, Milan, Parma (where he is mentioned as a student of Bernardino Gatti) and finally Rome. He stayed in Rome for three years, working for Cardinal Farnese at the Castello Caprarola and for Pope Pius V. On the recommendation of Giovanni da Bologna he moved to Vienna in 1575 to work for the Emperor Maximilian II, who appointed him his Senior Court Painter. The Emperor Rudolph confirmed him in this post. He accompanied the Emperor to Augsburg in 1582, was appointed painter to the Imperial Chamber, and was ennobled in 1588. In 1602 he returned to the Netherlands and then went to Cologne and Prague, where he finished his career.
The work of Parmigianino and Correggio, which he studied in Italy, and of the Fontainebleau painters in France led him to become one of the originators of the Mannerist style that was characteristic of the 16th century throughout Europe. He painted both large decorative compositions and small panels on copper. Whether his subjects are Biblical or mythological, he always makes them an opportunity to depict nudes whose eroticism he exploits undisguisedly, often contrasting muscular warriors with the supple, mannered smoothness of well-built women, whose simpering looks and drooping poses are quite unambiguous. This seductive eroticism is heightened by an unusual colour range, acid tones contrasting with many softer half-tones. He drew very precisely, paying attention to revelatory detail, and played an important role in the creation and spread of this erotic Mannerism. He was also a sculptor.
He has been represented in thematic exhibitions, including: 1995, Eros und Mythos: Kunst am Hof Rudolps II (Eros and Mythos: Art at the Court of Rudolph II), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; 2002, Praga Magica. L'Art à Prague au temps de Rodolphe II (Praga Magica. Art in Prague at the Time of Rudolph II, Musée Magnin, Dijon.
"SPRANGER, Bartholomaeus." In Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/benezit/B00173776 (accessed May 8, 2012).
