AACHEN, Hans von
(b. 1552, Köln, d. 1615, Praha)

Gaspar Rem

1574-75
Oil on canvas, 49 x 42 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Gaspar Rem (1542-c. 1616) was a Flemish painter. Hans von Aachen travelled to Italy c. 1574, first working in Venice as a copyist and for the painter Gaspar Rem, before going in 1575 to Rome, where he copied antique sculptures and the works of Italian masters.

Von Aachen's portraits are remarkable for their psychological sensitivity. One of the earliest, of his teacher in Venice Gaspar Rem, clearly shows the influence of Venetian portrait painting (e.g. Jacopo Bassano).