ACHEN (AKEN), HANS von. - German painter, belonging to the Cologne school, b. in 1554, d. in 1615. In 1574 he went to Venice, where he came under the decisive influence of Tintoretto, then to Rome, where he painted an altarpiece for the church of the Gesù. In Florence he executed numerous portraits, including those of Grand Duke Francesco and Giovanni da Bologna. He returned to Cologne in 1588 and was subsequently summoned to the court of Munich in Bavaria, where, in many altarpieces and portraits, he developed a mannerism similar to that of Peter Candid (de Witte) and Fr. Sustris. Owing to his fame as a portraitist, he became, together with Jos. Heinz and Barth. Spranger, court painter to Emperor Rodolfo II, who sent him to Italy (Turin, Mantua, Modena, etc.), chiefly to copy Italian paintings. Josef Heinz was his pupil. His compositions were engraved by Sadeler and Kilian.
Aachen (Aken), Hans von
BIBL.: E. Firmenich-Richartz, s. V. in Thieme-Becker, I, pp. 40-42; F. Baldinucci, Notizie dei Professori del Disegno, III, Firenze 1846 (edited by F. Ranalli), pp. 30-33; A. Venturi, in Repertorium f. Kunste, VIII, Stoccarda 1885, pp. 10-23; R. V. Mander, Das Leben der Niederl. u. deutschen Maler, ed. Floreke, II, Monaco 1906, p. 297; G. Dehio, Geschichte der Deutschen Kunst, III, Berlino 1931, p. 187.
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“ACHEN (AKEN), HANS VON.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I (1948), p. 156. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/achen-aken-hans-von.