Maximilian of Hesse-Kassel

This German prince spent more time painting than ruling, he kept a studio in his castle where he mixed paint until his hands were blue. He liked painting altarpieces outdoors, dragging easels into forests so the light hit just right. The 1732 Offeraltare i landskap shows a tiny altar half-swallowed by birch trees, like the woods wanted to reclaim it. Drop by Kassel’s old town square, he’s the guy who turned a palace into a paintbox.