Johann Nepomuk della Croce

• 1. Introduction

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  Johann Nepomuk della Croce was born on the 7th of August 1736 in Pressano, a small town in Tyrol, and he went on to produce a body of work that few painters of his era could match in sheer volume. By one estimate, della Croce completed around five thousand portraits and two hundred historical pictures across his long career. That number alone raises a question: who was this prolific Austrian artist, working across Germany and Trentino in a late-Baroque style, producing altar-pieces, portraits, and religious subjects for decades? And why does his name appear, quietly, in the story of one of history's most celebrated musical families?

• 2. From Pressano to Burghausen

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  Della Croce's training began under Lorenzoni, an Italian artist whose influence shaped his early approach to painting. After completing his studies, della Croce embarked on a period of travel that took him through Italy, Germany, Hungary, and France. This circuit of European countries was not unusual for ambitious painters of the period, who sought exposure to different courts and artistic traditions before settling into a career. Della Croce eventually put down roots in Burghausen, a town in Bavaria, which became his professional base. From there he built his reputation as a painter of portraits and religious subjects, supplying altar-pieces to churches throughout Bavaria.

• 3. Five Thousand Portraits

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  The scale of della Croce's output is almost difficult to absorb: around five thousand portraits and two hundred historical pictures over the course of a career. His religious work filled Bavarian churches, with many altar-pieces painted by him still found there. Working in a late-Baroque style, he served the dual markets of ecclesiastical patronage and private portraiture, moving between Germany and Trentino as commissions required. That combination of sacred and secular work, sustained over so many years, meant his name became familiar across a wide geographic range even if it rarely appeared in the front ranks of celebrated artists. One portrait in particular has kept his name alive in a way that no individual altar-piece could: a depiction of the Mozart family that is traditionally attributed to him.

• 4. The Mozart Family Portrait

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  A portrait of the Mozart family is traditionally attributed to della Croce, a work that has given him a foothold in the history of music as well as art. The attribution places his brush at the centre of one of the most recognizable family images in classical music. Whether or not every detail of that attribution is settled, the connection has ensured that della Croce's name travels far beyond the Bavarian churches where his altar-pieces hang. Della Croce died on the 4th of March 1819, having lived to see his son Clemente, born in 1783, follow him into the profession. Clemente della Croce, who died in 1823, continued the family's artistic legacy, though his career was considerably shorter than his father's eight decades of life.