Highly modern: A collection solely of pictures

It should be emphasised that Margrave Hermann’s collection was not characterised by any concentration on the many of wonders created by nature and man, which was still a common feature in many places at that time. Instead, the inventory lists an immense number of paintings that certainly adorned not only the living and working rooms of the ruler, but probably a separate collection room as well.

With this collection of just paintings — a phenomenon that only emerged in the Netherlands in the 17th century — Hermann shows himself to be entirely abreast with contemporary developments. But first and foremost he distinguishes himself by his appreciation of contemporary German and especially Dutch art production.

Art in large formats

First and foremost, the worldly bachelor was interested in the epitome of Baroque painting, the Flemish art of the first half of the 17^th century: Rubens, Rubens, Snyders, Rubens, and Jordaens. However, of the 20 works still on display in the Kunsthalle today, the Dutch masterpieces of, for example, Pieter Coecke van Aelst or Jan Davidsz. de Heem should not be overlooked. In Hermann’s inventory, much more frequent than a “stuckhel” or “stücklein” (small, easily affordable and easily transportable cabinet pieces), the term “ein gross stuckh (a large piece)” is found. The large formats were usually of mythological or biblical themes, as in the case of this painting of Moses and the Miracle of the Spring, which certainly was appropriate for a Catholic ruler like Hermann. The artist Jacob Jordaens, who was just 25 years old when he painted this picture, dramatically depicted with Baroque concentration and force the moment when a divine miracle saves the thirsty Israelites.

Contemporaries from two different generations

The large workshop that Jordaens later ran in Antwerp testifies to the changing nature of commissioned works during this golden age of Dutch art: It was not only orders from the church and the state that secured Jordaens his considerable income, but also the works ordered by numerous international rulers and royal families.

However, this painting, of which nothing is known about its original context of creation, is unlikely to have passed directly from Jordaens to Hermann, even though the two men lived as contemporaries for at least 50 years. Rather, it is the interesting constellation that a mature art collector in Baden who, at a time when Baroque Flemish art was at its zenith, took an early work by one of its main representatives into his princely collection.