KAGER, Johann Matthias - b. 1575 München, d. 1634 Augsburg

German painter and draughtsman. He trained in Munich (1588-98) as a painter of miniatures. He probably worked subsequently among a group of artists decorating the Munich Residenz according to Italian models. Kager’s early works show the influence of Friedrich Sustris, Christoph Schwarz and Hans Rottenhammer I. There is no evidence that Kager himself visited Italy. His drawings from the first years of the 17th century show that he had studied the art of Rudolfine Prague, including the works of Bartholomäus Spranger and Hans von Aachen. Some copper engravings by Kager date from 1600 to 1603.

In 1603 Kager was granted the civic rights of Augsburg and the right to work as a painter of portraits and miniatures. From 1605 he received increasingly large commissions from the city and the Catholic clergy. He painted the façades of important buildings with historical scenes and allegories; he produced altarpieces and works for churches in Augsburg.

In 1615 Kager was appointed town painter of Augsburg. As such he received his most important commission, the decoration of the Rathaus, newly built (1615-19) by Elias Holl. Kager had overall artistic control, but he personally executed the ceiling and wall paintings for the Goldener Saal as well as paintings for the various administrative offices (1619-29). Alongside his artistic activities Kager held a series of public offices in Augsburg from 1611, rising to become burgomaster in 1631-32.

Kager was of an eclectic nature. He was influenced above all by the art of northern Italy, by the Mannerism of Rudolfine Prague and by the printed graphics of the Counter-Reformation.

Kager himself, like most of his German contemporaries, did not actually establish his own school of painting. Throughout his oeuvre religious themes are dominant: mythological subjects appear only in the early work. He moved from small-scale formats to work on a large scale, being chiefly active as an art administrator, a disseminator of ideas, a designer and a mediator.

Decoration of the Golden Hall

The Augsburg Rathaus was designed and built by Elias Holl (1615-20). The Goldener Saal (Golden Hall) is the most impressive of the Rathaus’s rooms, and one of the most important cultural monuments of late German Renaissance. The Hall covers an area of 552 square metres with a ceiling height of 14 metres, and is richly adorned with large doorways, magnificent murals and a coffered ceiling. The interior of the Hall was designed by Johann Matthias Kager, and was not completed until 1643. The numerous ceiling paintings and murals were executed according to a concept of the Jesuit Matthäus Raders (1561-1634) and designs by the Flemish artist Peter Candid (1584-1628).

The Hall was badly damaged by bombing during the war. When the Rathaus was restored after the war, the Goldener Saal was not repaired to its original state, but left with a wooden ceiling, small doors and white plastered walls. It was used until the 1980s as an exhibition space. In the early 1980s, the council decided to renovate the Goldener Saal for the upcoming 2000th anniversary of the city in 1985. The room was redecorated according to historical drawings and photographs, starting with the basic reconstruction of the coffered ceiling, together with the painted ceilings, the floor and the doors. On 9 January 1985, the Hall was re-opened close to its former glory. Supported by numerous donations and the active interest of Augsburg, the murals and extensive gold jewellery that had once decorated the Hall were reinstated over subsequent years, and the hall was reopened a second time in 1996.