Johann Franz Michael Rottmayr (Austrian, 1654–1730)
Venus and Adonis
Oil on Canvas
95 x 197 cm. (37.4 x 77.6 in.)
Private collection
Venus and Adonis is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare published in 1593. It is probably Shakespeare's first publication.
The poem tells the story of Venus, the goddess of Love; of her unrequited love; and of her attempted seduction of Adonis, an extremely handsome young man, who would rather go hunting. The poem is pastoral, and at times erotic, comic and tragic. It contains discourses on the nature of love, and observations of nature. More on Venus and Adonis
Johann Michael Rottmayr (1656–1730)
Homage to a Tutelary Goddess
Oil on canvas
Height: 135 cm (53.1 in); Width: 170 cm (66.9 in)
Residenzgalerie Salzburg
A tutelary is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and thus of guardianship.
In late Greek and Roman religion, one type of tutelary deity, the genius, functions as the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the familiar spirit of European folklore.
A similar concept in Christianity would be the patron saint example of archangels "Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, etc." or to a lesser extent, the guardian angel. More on a Tutelary Goddess
This oil sketch depicts the apotheosis of a flourishing reign over a country or city. It is not known whether the sketch was translated into a larger painting.
Rottmayr born in Laufen, a small town near Salzburg, and probably learned the rudiments of his craft from his mother, who was a painter. About 1675 he went to Venice, entering the workshop of Karl Loth, an expatriate Bavarian, with whom he remained for 13 years. About 1688 he returned to Austria and soon entered the service of the prince-bishop of Salzburg, Johann Ernst Graf Thun, who favored German artists over the Italians, who still dominated art north of the Alps.
Johann Michael Rottmayr (1656–1730)
Tarquinius and Lucretia, c. 1692
Oil on canvas
118 x 169 cm
Austrian Gallery Belvedere
Lucretia, legendary heroine of ancient Rome. According to tradition, she was the beautiful and virtuous wife of the nobleman Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus. Her tragedy began when she was raped by Sextus Tarquinius, son of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the tyrannical Etruscan king of Rome. After exacting an oath of vengeance against the Tarquins from her father and her husband, she stabbed herself to death. Lucius Junius Brutus then led the enraged populace in a rebellion that drove the Tarquins from Rome. The event (traditionally dated 509 BCE) marks the foundation of the Roman Republic. The story is first found in the work of the earliest Roman historian, Fabius Pictor (late 3rd century BCE). Its classic form is Livy’s version (late 1st century BCE). Lucretia’s story is also recounted in Shakespeare’s narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece. More on Lucretia
Johann Michael Rottmayr
Death of Seneca, c. after 1692
Oil on canvas
height 127 cm, width 181 cm
National Gallery Prague
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, usually known as Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca was exiled to the island of Corsica under emperor Claudius, but was allowed to return in 49 to become a tutor to Nero. When Nero became emperor in 54, Seneca became his advisor and the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, provided competent government for the first five years of Nero's reign. Seneca's influence over Nero declined with time, and in 65 Seneca was forced to take his own life for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero, in which he was likely to have been innocent. His stoic and calm suicide has become the subject of numerous paintings. More on Seneca
The canvas was painted in the first half of the 1690s, soon after Rottmayr’s return from Italy at the turn of 1687. After that, the painter was employed by the new Archbishop of Salzburg, Johann Ernst Thun, and soon he also started working for other members of the Thun family in Bohemia. The painting, Death of Seneca, was commissioned by Maximilian Thun, along with other canvases by Rottmayr, now held by the Czech and Austrian collections, to decorate his residence in the Lesser Town of Prague. According to Tacitus‘ Annales, Seneca, Emperor Nero’s tutor, was accused of conspiracy, and at the command of the emperor, he committed suicide. Seneca is supported by a soldier, whereas one of his servants is getting ready to fulfil Seneca’s wish and cut his vein. Also present at the scene is one of his pupils, who records the philosopher’s last words. In the background, Nero and his wife look on. More on this painting
Johann Michael Rottmayr
Diana and Endymion, c. 1690–1695
Oil on canvas
32 × 49 1/2 in. (81.3 × 125.2 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago
The painting depicts the Roman goddess Diana, one of the twelve Gods and Goddesses of Olympus, falling in love with Endymion, a symbol of timeless beauty. The story tells of Diana's love for the beautiful youth Endymion.
Endymion used to go to sleep on the mountaintop where he guarded his sheep. Diana was falling in love with his beauty, but her love remained unfulfilled, because Diana was a chaste goddess. Diana has her gaze fixed on the sleeping youth's body, with a mixture of desire and despair.
According to the legend Diana used to come and kiss Endymion when he was asleep on the top of the mountain each night. Diana's light touch partly drew Endymion from his slumber and he caught a brief glance of her. Incredulous at her beauty, he attributed it to a dream and began to prefer his dreamlike state over mundane daily routines yet he was never awake when she was present. Through her love, Endymion was granted eternal youth and timeless beauty. More on Diana and Endymion
Johann Michael Rottmayr (1656–1730)
Kephalos and Prokris, c. 1706
Oil on canvas
Height: 145 cm (57 in); Width: 121 cm (47.6 in)
Vienna Museum
The earliest version of Procris' story comes from Pherecydes of Athens. Cephalus remains away from home for eight years because he wanted to test Procris. When he returns, he succeeds in seducing her while disguised. Although they are reconciled, Procris suspects that her husband has a lover because he is often away hunting. A servant tells her that Cephalus called to Nephele (cloud) to come to him. Procris follows him the next time he goes hunting and leaps out of the thicket when she hears him call out to Nephele again. He is startled and shoots her with an arrow, thinking that she is a wild animal, and kills her. More on Kephalos and Prokris
Johann Michael Rottmayr (1656–1730)
Die Opferung Iphigeniens/ The sacrifice of Iphigenies, c. between 1690 and 1691
Oil on canvas
Height: 205 cm (80.7 in); Width: 135 cm (53.1 in)
Austrian Gallery Belvedere
In Greek mythology, Iphigenia was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae.
In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by accidentally killing one of Artemis' sacred stags. She retaliates by preventing the Greek troops from reaching Troy unless Agamemnon kills his eldest daughter, Iphigenia, at Aulis as a human sacrifice. In some versions, Iphigenia dies at Aulis, and in others, Artemis rescues her. In the version where she is saved, she goes to the Taurians and meets her brother Orestes. More on Iphigenia
Johann Michael Rottmayr
Jove casts his Thunderbolts at the Rebellious Giants, c. 1690–1695
Oil on canvas
32 × 49 1/2 in. (81.3 × 125.2 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago
Jove is an alternative name of the Roman god, Jupiter, who was a Latinized copy of the Greek god, Zeus. Therefore, the myth that inspired this scene with ‘Jove’ and his thunderbolts came not from Rome, but from ancient Greece. For the story depicted in the painting, we must go back in the mythological timeline to the so-called Titanomachy (the war in which Zeus and the Olympian gods overthrew the Titans). During that war, the primordial earth goddess, Gaia, forsook her Titan children and became an ally (or at least an advisor) to Zeus. Although Gaia apparently did not mind the authority of her children being usurped by her grandchildren, she did evidently feel anger at the decision made by Zeus to imprison certain Titans in Tartarus. As the story goes, Gaia let her rage fester for a long time, and she only decided to act after the hero, Heracles, had been born. Nevertheless, when she decided to act, Gaia brought about the scene featured above in the painting. Hoping to punish Zeus and his followers, Gaia looked to another race of her offspring—the giants—and incited a war between them and the Olympians.
This chaotic battle between the gods and the giants is what inspired Johann Michael Rottmayr’s painting. He focused on Zeus’ actions during the mayhem, but as can be seen from the quote above, it was a group effort involving all of the Olympians and their allies. Most important of all was Heracles, whose role of finishing off the incapacitated giants was pivotal to the victory of the gods. More on this painting
Johann Michael Rottmayr
Mercury rescues the disguised Io after beheading Argus, c. 1685–1700
Oil on canvas
32 × 49 1/2 in. (81.3 × 125.2 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago
Jupiter (Zeus) falls in love with Io, a priestess of Hera, his wife, who quickly discovers the affair. Jupiter transforms himself into a bull and transforms Io into a beautiful, white heifer in order to hide from Hera's wrath. Hera understands his strategy and demands the heifer as a present. To end their affair, Hera puts Io under the guard of the giant Argus Panoptes, who has 100 eyes. Jupiter commands his son Mercury (Hermes) to set Io free by lulling Argus to sleep with an enchanted flute. Mercury, disguised as a shepherd, is invited by Argus to his camp. Mercury charms him with lullabies and then cuts his head off. More on Mercury and Io
Johann Michael Rottmayr
Venus and Cupid at the Forge of Vulcan, c. 1690–1695
Oil on canvas
32 × 49 1/2 in. (81.3 × 125.2 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago
In the Aeneid, the Roman poet Virgil tells how Venus, the goddess of love, visits Vulcan's forge to obtain for her son Aeneas the invincible arms that only this god could make. In the foreground we see the recumbent Venus in a tender embrace with Cupid, hinting at the night of love that would be granted Vulcan in recompense. More on this painting
Rottmayr's lifelong friendship and collaboration with the architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach began in Salzburg. Rottmayr painted altarpieces and frescoes for most of Fischer's buildings in Salzburg—the Church of the Trinity (ca. 1702), the Church of the Hospital of St. John (1709), and the University Church (1721-1722)—as well as for the Residenz (1689, 1710-1714) and other secular and religious buildings in the city. The two men also collaborated at Frain Castle (Vranov) in Moravia (1695), creating, in the so-called Ancestral Hall, the first of their huge oval cupolas, where through painted illusionistic foreshortening and perspective the impression is given of seeing the open sky filled with mythological beings glorifying, in this case, the family of the owner. Rottmayr's early style, though very much like that of his master, Loth, is characterized by his own bright local color, massive forms, and strong movement.
Johann Franz Michael Rottmayr (Austrian, 1654--1730)
Cleopatra
Oil on canvas
105 x 82 cm (41.3 x 32.3 in)
Private collection
Cleopatra VII Philopator (69 – August 12, 30 BC), was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, briefly survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. After her reign, Egypt became a province of the recently established Roman Empire.
Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death. The Ptolemies spoke Greek throughout their dynasty, and refused to speak Egyptian, which is the reason that Greek as well as Egyptian languages were used on official court documents such as the Rosetta Stone. By contrast, Cleopatra did learn to speak Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of the Egyptian goddess Isis.
Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes, and later with her brothers Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married as per Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne.
After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helio. Antony committed suicide after losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, and Cleopatra followed suit. According to tradition, she killed herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BC. More on Cleopatra
Rottmayr moved to Vienna about 1699, where he continued to work with Fischer on such projects as Schönbrunn Palace (1700). But Rottmayr also began to receive other commissions, notably the fresco decoration of the Jesuit Church in Breslau (1704-1706) and of the Liechtenstein Summer Palace outside Vienna (1706-1707), as well as paintings for the Council Chamber of the Vienna City Hall (1712).
Johann Michael Rottmayr (1654 Laufen an der Salzach - 1730 Vienna)
Lamentation for Abel, c. 1692
Oil on canvas
191 × 127 cm
Austrian Gallery Belvedere
Cain and Abel were sons of Adam and Eve in the biblical Book of Genesis. Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. The brothers made sacrifices to God, each of his own produce, but God favored Abel's sacrifice instead of Cain's. Cain then murdered Abel, whereupon God punished Cain to a life of wandering. Cain then dwelt in the land of Nod, where he built a city and fathered the line of descendants beginning with Enoch.
The narrative never explicitly states Cain's motive for murdering his brother, nor God's reason for rejecting Cain's sacrifice, nor details on the identity of Cain's wife. Some traditional interpretations consider Cain to be the originator of evil, violence, or greed. According to Genesis, Cain was the first human born and Abel was the first to die. More on Cain and Abel
Attributed to Johann Michael Rottmayr
Job mocked by his wife
Oil on canvas
123 x 108 cm
Private collection
The painting depicts a scene from the Old Testament in which Job, a once rich and influential man who in a short space of time lost his children, his possessions and his health but not his piety, is being chided by his wife for maintaining his faith and urged to curse God and die.
Susanna and the two old people
Oil on canvas
118 x 169 cm
Austrian Gallery Belvedere
A fair Hebrew wife named Susanna was falsely accused by lecherous voyeurs. As she bathes in her garden, having sent her attendants away, two lustful elders secretly observe the lovely Susanna. When she makes her way back to her house, they accost her, threatening to claim that she was meeting a young man in the garden unless she agrees to have sex with them.
She refuses to be blackmailed and is arrested and about to be put to death for promiscuity when a young man named Daniel interrupts the proceedings, shouting that the elders should be questioned to prevent the death of an innocent. After being separated, the two men are questioned about details of what they saw, but disagree about the tree under which Susanna supposedly met her lover. In the Greek text, the names of the trees cited by the elders form puns with the sentence given by Daniel. The first says they were under a mastic, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to cuthim in two. The second says they were under an evergreen oak tree, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to saw him in two. The great difference in size between a mastic and an oak makes the elders' lie plain to all the observers. The false accusers are put to death, and virtue triumphs. More about Susanna
Circle of Johann Franz Michael Rottmayr (Austrian, 1654–1730)
Suzanne and the Elders
Oil on canvas
76 x 96 cm. (29.9 x 37.8 in.)
Private collection
The chaste Joseph and Potiphar's wife
Oil on canvas
101.5 x 132.5 cm
Private collection
Potiphar's wife is a minor character in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. She was the wife of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard in the time of Jacob and his twelve sons. According to the Book of Genesis, she falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape after he rejected her sexual advances, resulting in his imprisonment.
In Genesis she is given no name, but in later medieval Jewish sources and Islamic tradition, she is identified as Zuleikha. More on Joseph and Potiphar's wife
Johann Michael Rottmayr
Lot and His Daughters
Oil on canvas
45 by 38 in.; 114.3 by 96.5 cm.
Private collection
Lot and his two daughters, Genesis 19:30-38, left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”
That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today. More on Lot and his two daughters
Trinity Sunday, which falls on the first Sunday after Pentecost, is one of the few feasts in the Christian calendar that celebrate a doctrine rather than an event.
Johann Michael Rottmayr (Austrian, 1654-1730)
The Deposition from the Cross, ca. 1712
Oil on canvas
44 1/2 x 26 15/16 in. (113 x 68.5 cm)
Walters Art Museum
The Descent from the Cross, or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after his crucifixion. In Byzantine art the topic became popular in the 9th century, and in the West from the 10th century. The Descent from the Cross is the 13th Station of the Cross.
Other figures not mentioned in the Gospels who are often included in depictions of this subject include St. John the Evangelist, who is sometimes depicted supporting a fainting Mary, and Mary Magdalene. The Gospels mention an undefined number of women as watching the crucifixion, including the Three Marys and Mary Salome. More on Deposition of Christ
This oil sketch depicting Christ being taken down from the cross is a study for a larger canvas commissioned for a private chapel in the monastery of Kremsmünter in Austria. Rottmayr painted many altars and ceiling frescoes in churches throughout Austria. His extremely fluid brush strokes bind the composition together. Preliminary studies like this could be used to show a patron what the final altarpiece would look like before work was begun. They were increasingly appreciated as works of art and collected during the 18th century. More on this painting
Johann Michael Rottmayr (Laufen 1654-1730 Vienna)
The Lamentation
Oil on canvas
64 7/8 x 47 ¼ in. (164.8 x 119.8 cm.)
Private collection
The Lamentation of Christ is a very common subject in Christian art from the High Middle Ages to the Baroque. After Jesus was crucified, his body was removed from the cross and his friends mourned over his body. This event has been depicted by many different artists.
Lamentation works are very often included in cycles of the Life of Christ, and also form the subject of many individual works. One specific type of Lamentation depicts only Jesus' mother Mary cradling his body. These are known as Pietà (Italian for "pity") More on The Lamentation of Christ
Rottmayr, Johann Michael 1654-1730
Lamentation of Christ, c. 1692
Oil on canvas.
42.0 cm × 32.7 cm
Salzburg, Residenzgalerie.
SHOWING: CHRIST, MARIA MAGDALENA (HEILIGE), MARY, MARY JACOBEA, ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
Rottmayr, Johann Michael 1654-1730
Mary Magdalene
Oil on canvas
110 x 93 cm
Private collection
Mary Magdalene, literally translated as Mary the Magdalene or Mary of Magdala, is a figure in Christianity who, according to the Bible, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers. She is said to have witnessed Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Within the four Gospels she is named more than most of the apostles. Based on texts of the early Christian era in the third century, it seems that her status as an “apostle" rivals even Peter's.
The Gospel of Luke says seven demons had gone out of her. She is most prominent in the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus, at which she was present. She was also present two days later when, she was, either alone or as a member of a group of women, the first to testify to the resurrection of Jesus. John 20 and Mark 16:9 specifically name her as the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection.
During the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene was regarded in Western Christianity as a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman, claims not found in any of the four canonical gospels. More Mary Magdalene
The Apotheosis of Saint Charles Borromeo, c. 1681
Oil on canvas
w58 x h130 cm
The picture is an oil sketch for the altar painting of the eastern transept altar in the Collegiate Church in Salzburg – one of the most important of Rottmayr's later works. For the glorification of St Charles Borromeo, intercessor for plague sufferers, Rottmayr used the three-zone structure he had introduced.
In attempts to ward off a plague epidemic in the town of Salzburg, processions were held and the Eucharist distributed, following the example of St Charles Borromeo in Milan. Readily recognisable motifs from Salzburg's landscape and architecture identify the location. Above, borne by angels, the saint hovers on a bank of cloud. His red cardinal's robe is rendered in an earthy shade, thus harmonising with the overall colouration of the painting. Borromeo turns trustingly towards Jesus, ruler of the world and leader of his armies. More on this painting
Johann Michael Rottmayr, Laufen, 1654 – Vienna, 1730
Saint Augustine with the Holy Trinity, ca. 1702
Oil on canvas
573 x 314 cm
Szépművészeti Múzeum
The doctrine of the Trinity is the Christian belief that There is One God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Trinity is a controversial doctrine; many Christians admit they don't understand it, while many more Christians don't understand it but think they do.
In fact, although they'd be horrified to hear it, many Christians sometimes behave as if they believe in three Gods and at other times as if they believe in one. More on the Holy Trinity
A painter of great imagination, Rottmayr imbued his essentially idealized figures with a robust liveliness and naturalism of great appeal. His color, especially in his maturity, is often of enchanting beauty and refinement. The visionary effect of his ceiling paintings is sometimes reduced by the massiveness of his figures, but all are eminently effective in their swirling compositions.
Johann Franz Michael Rottmayr (Austrian, 1654–1730)
An allegory of transience/ Vanitas , before 1700
Oil on canvas
140 x 110 cm. (55.1 x 43.3 in.)
Private collection
Attributed to Johann Franz Michael Rottmayr (Austrian, 1654–1730)
Charity
Oil on Canvas
112.3 x 173.5 cm. (44.2 x 68.3 in.)
Private collection
Roman Charity is the exemplary story of a woman, Pero, who secretly breastfeeds her father, Cimon, after he is incarcerated and sentenced to death by starvation. She is found out by a jailer, but her act of selflessness impresses officials and wins her father's release.
The story is recorded by the ancient Roman historian Valerius Maximus, and was presented as a great act of filial piety and Roman honour. A painting in the Temple of Pietas depicted the scene. Among Romans, the theme had mythological echoes in Juno's breastfeeding of the adult Hercules, an Etruscan myth. More on Roman Charity
Circle Johann Michael Rottmayr
An Allegory of Charity
Oil on canvas
96.4 x 77.3cm
Private collection
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