Mihajlo Hamzić (1482 – 1518) also known as Michael Joannis Theutonici or Michael Hansen, was one of the outstanding painters in 15th century Dubrovnik during the transition from Gothic to

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

- along with Vicko Lovrin and

Nikola Božidarević Nikola Božidarević (; more commonly Nicholas of Ragusa (, , 1460 – 26 November 1517), was a painter from Venetian Dalmatia at the turn of the Gothic in the Renaissance. Life The son of the painter Božidar Vlatković of Slano, he was pro ...

Biography

Mihajlo's father, Hans, was originally from

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and had come to work in

Ston Ston () is a settlement and a municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. History Because of its geopolitical and strategic position, Ston has had a rich history since ...

on the maintenance of cannons. His mother was the daughter of a Ston blacksmith. Mihajlo was born in Ston as the second of four children. He studied art in

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

at the studio of

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, ; ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...

and returned to Dubrovnik in 1508. He is first mentioned in a document from 1509 in which the Council of the Prayer accepted his painting of

St. John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

for the

Rector's Palace, Dubrovnik The Rector's Palace (; ) is a palace in the city of Dubrovnik that used to serve as the seat of the Rector (Ragusa), Rector of the Republic of Ragusa between the 14th century and 1808. It was also the seat of the Minor Council and the state admin ...

. Soon after that, he painted the "Baptism of Christ" for the great room of the Rector's Palace, where it still hangs today. He also worked as a clerk at the Dubrovnik customs office in order to earn a living. Mihajlo Hamzić also collaborated with other painters, so in 1512 he brought the painter, Pierre Giovanni of Venice and Vlaho Nikolin of Dubrovnik, into his workshop. He later formed a joint trading business with his brother Jacob, but in 1514 they got into trouble, and Mihajlo was forced to flee from Dubrovnik. When he returned, he restricted himself to painting. A document from 1515 mentions him getting a three-month ''salvoconduct'' (residence permit) to paint for the cathedral. In 1518, together with Pierre Giovanni, he was given the task of completing the

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Some definitions restrict "polyptych" to works with more than three sections: a diptych is ...

for the altar of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

in the cathedral, which

had started, but Hamzić died suddenly before he could finish. He died in Dubrovnik, young and in debt, and sadly his last painting, the polyptych, was destroyed in the Dubrovnik earthquake of 1667.

Works

Hamzić's work marks the end of the golden age of art in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

when it began to decline. Only two of his paintings have survived: The baptism of Christ in Rector's Palace and the

Triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

for the Luccari family in the Dominican monastery in

Ragusa Ragusa may refer to: Places Croatia * Ragusa, Dalmatia, the historical name of the city of Dubrovnik * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Ragusa Vecchia, historical Italian name of Cavtat, a t ...

. The Baptism of Christ in the Rector's Palace has Mantegna characteristics in which the figures of Christ and John the Baptist are placed with Christ's robe directly in the foreground in front of a wide rocky landscape painted in shades of brown and green, displaying an excellent knowledge of aerial perspective. Hamzić brought lyrical accents and somewhat naïve pictorial elements (birds and deer), into a serious and strictly imagined landscape. This work was first attributed to Hamzić by Karlo Kovač, and Ljubo Karaman accepted his attribution and further referred to Mantegna's apparent influence. The Triptych for the altar of the Luccari family in the Dominican church from 1512 is now kept in the collection of the Dominican monastery. In the center of the triptych is

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

, on the left are John the Baptist and St Stephen, and on the right are Mary Magdalene and St Mark. Although the strong modeling of the figures indicates the clear influence of Andrea Mantegna, this painting is very different from the Baptism in the Rector's Palace, being much more successful in its use of color, with fine contrasts and color rhythm inspired by Venetian paintings.

Sources

*Karlo Kovač, ''Nikolaus Ragusinus und seine Zeit'', Jahrbuch des Kunsthistorischen Institutes der k. k. Zentralkommission für Denkmalpflege (Wien), 11(1917) pp. 9. and 63. * Ljubo Karaman, ''O domaćem slikarstvu u Dalmaciji za vrijeme mletačkog gospodstva'', Almanah Jadranska straža (Beograd), 1927., pp. 558.–586. *S. Bettini i G. Fiocco, ''Arte italiana e arte croata: Italia e Croazia'', Roma, 1942., p. 301. *

Kruno Prijatelj Kruno Prijatelj (1922–1998), was a Croatian art historian, art critic and University professor. He introduced many artists who contributed to art in Dalmatia. Prijatelj's efforts answered many unsolved topics in Dalmatian art history. His int ...

, ''Dubrovačko slikarstvo XV–XVI stoljeća'', Zagreb, 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamzić, Mihajlo People from Dubrovnik 15th-century births 1518 deaths 16th-century painters Ragusan painters 15th-century Croatian people 16th-century Croatian people Early modern Croatian art Croatian male painters

Biography

Works

See also

Sources

References