Ulrich Fugger the Younger

1525 · Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

portrait

The sitter of this portrait was Ulrich Fugger the Younger (1490-1525). He was born into a family that would soon become one of Europe's greatest mercantile and banking dynasties. His father - Ulrich the Elder - and his uncles Georg and Jacob Fugger together founded a flourishing spice- and textile-trading firm in 1494, which under Jacob's leadership became immensely prosperous by expanding into mining and finance.

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About the Artist

Hans Maler

1480 – 1529

German painter. Hans Maler often signed his name Hans Maler zu Schwaz, from his home of Schwaz in the city of Tyrol, Austria. This was near the capital city of Innsbruck, where the Habsburg Court reined, under Ferdinand I (1503-1564), Archduke and later Holy Roman Emperor. Ferdinand I was a major patron of Maler, as was the wealthy merchant family, the Fuggers. Maler possibly received training in the School of Ulm under the German painter, Bartholomäus Zeitblom (1450-1519). His first known portrait work is a 1510 portrait of Mary of Burgundy, wife of The Emperor Maximilian I. His best works are portraits, with subjects generally appearing in bust-format, hands not shown, before a blue background that lightens towards the base.

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