HANS MAKART
Son of a chamberlain at Mirabell castle. After a short study at the Academy in Vienna he was educated by Karl Theodor von Piloty in Munich (1860-1865) and travelled to London, Paris and Rome to study. In 1868 or 1869 he married Amalie Franziska Roithmayr from Munich. They had two children, Hans und Grete. Sadly Amalie died young in 1873.

Makart became famous for his richly coloured history paintings and enjoyed his finest hour in 1879 with his painting of the procession in honour of the silver anniversary of the marriage of emperor Francis Joseph and his wife Elisabeth (better known as Sisi). In the same year he became a Professor at the Academy. In 1881 he married his second wife, the dancer Bertha Babitsch (also known as Bertha Linda, 3 Jan 1850-20 Aug 1928).

Makart also designed furniture and interiors. In 1882 emperor Francis Joseph orderded to build the Villa Hermes at Lainz (near Vienna) for his empress and the bedroom decoration should be inspired on Shakespeare's Midsummernight's Dream. Makart designed a fascinating dreamworld that still exists at the Villa Hermes as a large painting (1882). Unfortunately his design was never executed after his early death in 1884. To secure the future of his young children his collection of antics and art was put up for auction by art-dealer H.O. Miethke. It consisted of 1083 pieces.