Artwork
Portrait of the painter Hans Burgkmair (1473) and his wife Anna
Portrait of the painter Hans Burgkmair (1473) and his wife Anna is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Lukas Furtenagel. It dates from 1529 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
This mirror functions as a memento mori, placing the work within the vanitas tradition that underscores the transience of life and the inevitability of death.
The double portrait depicts the Augsburg painter Hans Burgkmair the Elder and his wife Anna, recorded in 1529 by Lukas Furtenagel. The couple is shown in half-length, and Anna holds a convex mirror in which their faces are reflected as skulls. This mirror functions as a memento mori, placing the work within the vanitas tradition that underscores the transience of life and the inevitability of death.
The reflected skulls, set against the living likenesses of the sitters, emphasize the contemplative and introspective character of the work, inviting the viewer to reflect on the passage of time and the shared mortality of the couple.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on panel, a standard support for German portraiture of the early sixteenth century. The composition measures approximately 60 by 52 cm.
Stylistically, the painting belongs to the portrait genre, with Wikidata also classifying it under vanitas, a designation reinforced by the skull motif appearing in the mirror alongside the sitters Hans Burgkmair the Elder and Anna Burgkmair. The pairing of a conjugal double portrait with vanitas symbolism, the mirror and reflected skulls signaling transience and self-knowledge, reflects a Northern Renaissance convention Furtenagel handled within the oil medium, allowing for the fine detail and layered glazes characteristic of panel painting in that tradition.
Context
The portrait of Hans Burgkmair and his wife Anna, painted by Lukas Furtenagel in 1529, offers insight into the social and artistic milieu of early 16th-century German portraiture. Its depiction of domestic partnership alongside the vanitas mirror situates it within the broader tradition reflecting contemporary concerns with mortality and status. Scholars have noted the work's role in illustrating the emergence of bourgeois identity in the period, linking it to the artistic culture of Augsburg.
The painting is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it is studied as a key example of Northern Renaissance portraiture and as a testament to Furtenagel's integration of personal narrative with emblematic motifs.
Overview
Created in 1529, this oil‑on‑panel work by Lukas Furtenagel presents the elder painter Hans Burgkmair and his wife Anna standing side by side before a dark backdrop. The couple is rendered with sober expressions; the man’s hand rests on his chest while the woman holds an ornate, skull‑shaped mirror. The composition emphasizes the figures’ faces through a restrained use of light and shadow.
History & Provenance
A pupil of Burgkmair and briefly associated with Lucas Cranach the Elder’s workshop, Furtenagel painted this piece early in his career, likely as a tribute to his teacher. The painting entered the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it remains on public display.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Lukas Furtenagel (1505–1546) was a painter from the Holy Roman Empire. Lukas (Laux) Furtenagel was born in Augsburg in 1505 to a family of artists. He began studying art at a young age and was a protégé of painter Hans…
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