Hans Asper

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Hans Asper (1499-1571) was a Swiss painter.

He lived his entire life in Zurich. Nothing is known of his life until 1526, when he married the daughter of Ludwig Nöggi, a master carpenter who sat in the city council, and his first artwork dates only from 1531. Asper was himself a citizen of some standing, and was elected to the Great Council in 1545.

His artistic talents ran to flowers, fruit, and portraits. His portraits show affinity to the works of Hans Holbein; notable works include a depiction of Huldrych Zwingli.

Two of his eleven children, Hans Rudolf Asper and Rudolf Asper, were also painters.

[edit] 1911 Britannica article

ASPER, HANS (1499-1571), Swiss painter, was born and died at Zurich. He wrought in a great variety of styles, but excelled chiefly in flower and fruit pieces, and in portrait-painting. Many of his pictures have perished, but his style may be judged from the illustrations to Conrad Gesner's Historia Animalium, for which he is said to have furnished the designs, and from portraits of Zwingli and his daughter Regula Gwalter, which are preserved in the public library of Zurich. It has been usual to class Asper among the pupils and imitators of Holbein, but an inspection of his works is sufficient to show that this is a mistake. Though Asper was held in high reputation by his fellow-citizens, who elected him a member of the Great Council, and had a medal struck in his honor, he seems to have died in poverty.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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