VERONESE, Paolo
(b. 1528, Verona, d. 1588, Venezia)

Portrait of Johann Jakob König

1575-80
Oil on canvas, 83 x 74 cm
Národní Muzeum, Prague

The Flissen-born goldsmith and art dealer Johann Jakob König (c. 1536-c. 1600) visited Venice several times after 1571. As a highly regarded jeweler, he was later in the service of the Emperor Rudolph II in Prague. An inventory of his paintings drawn up in 1603 lists numerous portraits, including self-portraits by Tintoretto and Veronese. The self-assured König had had himself immortalized by both artists. In the Veronese picture, the gesture and rotation of the body gives the impression of a momentary snapshot reminiscent of the psychological portraits of Lorenzo Lotto, who worked in Venice in the 1520s.