Hans Asper

Hans Asper (c. 1499 – 21 March 1571) was a Swiss painter from Zürich. He is known for his portraits and for the decorative work he carried out as the city’s official painter.

Biography

Asper was born in Zürich around 1499.[1] He was the son of Heinrich Asper, who came from a Zürich council family.[2] In 1526 he married a daughter of the Zürich councillor Ludwig Nöggi.[1] He is thought to have studied with Hans Leu the Younger and appears to have known the art of Hans Holbein the Younger at an early stage.[1]

From 1545 he served on Zürich’s Great Council as a representative of the Meisenzunft.[1] In 1567 the council granted him a life pension in recognition of his services, but he died in poor circumstances in 1571.[3] Two of his sons, Hans Rudolf Asper and Rudolf Asper, also became painters.[2]

Works

Asper established his artistic reputation through portrait painting.[3] Around 30 portraits by him are known, dating from 1531 to 1560. His portraits are characterized by sharply defined outlines, monochrome backgrounds, and strong colours, and usually show their subjects in profile, three-quarter, or frontal view.[3]

One of his earliest known works is a 1531 portrait of Huldrych Zwingli painted in oil on parchment.[3] In the same year, as Zürich’s official city painter, he painted the small council chamber and the town clerk’s house. He later gilded the clock faces of St. Peter’s church tower in 1538–39 and produced façade paintings, banners, coats of arms, and topographical views for civic commissions. Much of this public work is now lost, apart from two coats of arms at Kyburg Castle and Laufen Castle.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Bhattacharya, Tapan (17 October 2001). "Hans Asper". Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (in German). Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b "Asper, Hans". Deutsche Biographie (in German). Bayerische Nationalbibliothek. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e von Wyss-Giacosa, Paola (2011). "Hans Asper (I.)". SIKART Lexikon zur Kunst in der Schweiz (in German). Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  • Media related to Hans Asper at Wikimedia Commons
  • Objects related to Hans Asper in the Urus : Techniques and Reception of Graphic Art in Central and Eastern Europe (15th–18th centuries) database
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