Hans Hansen (portrait painter)

Hans Hansen (22 February 1769, Skelby, Næstved Municipality – 11 February 1828, Copenhagen) was a Danish portrait painter.

Hansen's father worked in the War Chancellery and later became a farm manager. When he displayed some artistic ability, he won the support of Carl Adolph von Plessen (1747–1810), a court chamberlain, which enabled him to enroll at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. While there, he won silver medals in 1789 and 1791. According to his diaries from this period, he took Jens Juel as his model.

From 1793 to 1797, he travelled as an itinerant portrait painter in Jutland and Funen, then received more financial support from Plessen, allowing him to visit Hamburg and Vienna to continue his studies. Shortly after, thanks to the "Fonden ad usus publicos", a fund established by King Frederick V to support artistic and scientific endeavors, he was able to study briefly in Rome, then he went back to Vienna.

After returning to Copenhagen, he became a candidate for membership in the Royal Academy and a full member in 1809. His attempts to become a Professor were unsuccessful, but he became an Artist in Residence at Charlottenborg Palace in 1815. From 1817 to 1825, he was a lecturer at the Academy, where he taught perspective and mathematics. In his last years, he spent most of his time redoing old portraits at Frederiksborg Palace.

He is best known for his portraits of the Mozart family, painted during his second stay in Vienna: Constanze Mozart and a double portrait of her sons, Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver, which are currently on display in Salzburg. He met his future wife, Henriette (born 1778), while painting Constanze, who was then married to the Danish diplomat, Georg Nikolaus von Nissen. They were married in 1803 and had a son, Constantin Hansen, named after Constanze, who stood as his godparent. He also became a well-known painter.

...
Wikipedia