Old Masters

A process we take for granted today—painting on canvas—was a rarity at the beginning of the sixteenth century. To this day, there is no definitive explanation as to why some works from this period were created on materials other than the wooden panels common in European painting at the time. There are some plausible hypotheses, however: Paintings on canvas, like those in this room, were more lightweight and therefore easier to move. These were significant considerations in Hans Holbein the Younger’s organ wings: Installed directly on the organ in Basel Minster at a height of eleven meters, they were intended to protect it from hazards, such as birds or bats, when it was not in use. As the organ wings would be opened when the instrument was being played, they were frequently repositioned.

A further theory is that paintings on fabric were intended to imitate precious tapestries. The works by Bernese artist Niklaus Manuel, depicting scenes from classical antiquity, suggest as much. They were created using the so-called Tüchlein technique, which involves watercolor applied to unprimed, exceptionally fine canvas. The people of Bern would have been exposed to valuable tapestries during the Burgundian Wars, when some of these textile artworks were seized as loot in 1476.

Konrad Witz was born just after 1400 in the city of Rottweil, located in present-day southern Germany. He trained as a painter at a time when the International Gothic style, also known as “Soft Style” and characterized by its graceful figures and gently flowing forms, dominated European art.

Witz broke with these conventions by lending his figures volume and mass, rendering them substantial, almost sculptural, with their garments draped in heavy, angular folds. He imbues the material world with an all but tangible quality where metal glints, velvet beckons to be touched, and spaces appear believable. Light and its effects, such as shadows and reflections, become an essential compositional tool in his work.
These novel approaches originated and thrived in Netherlandish painting of the early fifteenth century. Thus, Witz must have visited Ghent and Bruges and seen the work of his Dutch contemporaries before settling in Basel around 1435. Kunstmuseum Basel holds the largest collection of artworks by this important innovator of Late Gothic art, including panels of his seminal Heilsspiegel Altarpiece.

In 1515, Hans Holbein the Younger moved to Basel together with his older brother, Ambrosius. There, they joined the studio of painter Hans Herbst and were soon accepted into the Basel craftsmen’s guild, Zum Himmel. These early steps marked the beginning of a successful career.

Holbein the Younger worked for prominent patrons and moved in the humanist circles surrounding the scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam. One of the defining features of his art is his detailed depiction of reality and his portraits demonstrate remarkable skill in capturing the unique characteristics of individuals. This sensitivity to the human condition echoes the values of humanism, which increasingly focused on people in their earthly existence and as distinct beings. In its unflinching realism, Holbein’s striking painting, The Dead Christ in the Tomb, powerfully embodies these ideals. His exceptional talent would eventually result in the artist achieving considerable success at the English royal court.

Alongside his paintings, Hans Holbein the Younger also produced an impressive body of drawings. Most of these works were not intended to stand alone as finished pieces but served as preparatory drawings or studies. Holbein the Younger frequently used pen and brush, allowing him to create striking contrasts of light and shadow that afforded his figures and architectural depictions a convincing spatiality. He employed colored chalks for his drawn portraits, lending them an impressive vividness. Even centuries later, these works are captivating due to their lifelike quality and immediacy.

Such works on paper are highly light-sensitive, which is why they are rarely exhibited and, when they are, only for limited periods. To enable their presentation here, the illumination in this room has been significantly reduced.

The Netherlands of the seventeenth century produced more paintings than anywhere else in Europe at the time. This prolific artistic output was largely driven by the young republic’s emergence as a maritime and trading power that thrived during European colonialism. The so-called Dutch Golden Age allowed merchants to accumulate wealth gained in the exploitation of colonized territories. As the social status of merchants grew, they proudly displayed their prosperity through the acquisition of artworks.

In response to this overwhelming demand, artists began to specialize, focusing on specific genres of painting. Portraits, landscapes, and still lifes were considered inferior by art academies in the seventeenth century, who viewed them as mere depictions of the visible world. Despite this, these artworks were highly popular with buyers. History painting, on the other hand, merged fact and fiction in complex narratives and was valued as the highest form of artistic expression. Each of the following rooms is dedicated to one of these individual genres.