Johann Matthias Kager (1566–1634) was a German historical painter.

Biography

He was born at the Bavarian capital

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. He was originally a pupil of Pieter de Witte (Candito), but went to Rome when young, and spent several years there. On his return, he was called to Munich by the Elector Maximilian, who appointed him to be his principal painter, and granted him a considerable allowance. He settled down in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

, and spent the rest of his years in that place, becoming

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

. He died at Augsburg in 1634.

Works

He decorated many of the palaces and churches in Munich, but his finest work, called "The Last Judgment", is in the Senate Hall at Augsburg. A notable picture by him is a representation of "David and Abigail", now at Vienna. He etched several plates from his own design, representing religious subjects (dated 1600, 1601, 1603), and his pictures were also engraved by two members of the

Sadeler family The Sadeler family were the largest, and probably the most successful of the dynasties of Flemish engravers that were dominant in Northern European printmaking in the later 16th and 17th centuries, as both artists and publishers. As with othe ...

and by Kilian, the plates numbering altogether over seventy. He practised in architecture, and painted a few miniatures, but his chief work was in

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

and in

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varn ...

References

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Het Gulden Cabinet ''Het Gulden Cabinet vande Edel Vry Schilder-Const'' or ''The Golden Cabinet of the Noble Liberal Art of Painting'' is a book by the 17th-century Flemish notary and ''Chamber of rhetoric, rederijker'' Cornelis de Bie published in Antwerp. Writte ...

, p. 162 1566 births 1634 deaths 16th-century German painters German male painters 17th-century German painters {{Germany-painter-stub