Jakob Meyer zum Hasen
Encyclopedia
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
from 1516 to 1521. A money changer
Money changer
A money changer is a person who exchanges the coins or currency of one country for that of another. This trade is thought generally to be the origin of modern banking in Europe....
by profession, he was the first bürgermeister of Basel to be a tradesman, belonging to a guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
rather than the aristocracy or a wealthy family. Relatively little is known about his life, "not even a modest biography". Today he is best known as a patron of the painter Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history...
, having commissioned the Darmstadt Madonna
Darmstadt Madonna
The Darmstadt Madonna is an oil painting by Hans Holbein the Younger. Completed in 1526 in Basel, the work shows the Bürgermeister of Basel Jakob Meyer zum Hasen, his first wife , his current wife, and his daughter grouped around the Madonna and infant Jesus...
from him.