Jan Kryštof Handke (1694-1774) is an important representative of Moravian High Baroque painting and the author of a unique biography. His work includes a number of canvases with religious and profane subjects. In Olomouc, he decorated the Chapel of Corpus Christi (at the Convent), the Minor Basilica at St. Kopeček and the Church of Our Lady of the Snows with his paintings.
Among his most famous works are his monumental murals, especially the interior decoration of the Chapel of the Corpus Christi in the former Jesuit Convent. Together with the sculptor Filip Sattler, Handke created one of the most impressive Moravian Baroque interiors here. Handke’s ceiling fresco on the theme of the Victory of Jaroslav of Šternberk over the Tatars is a typical example of an otherworldly Baroque allegory. One of the most magnificent paintings, reflecting the echo of Czech painting from the circle of Petr Brandl, is the canvas with the theme of St. Augustine in the pilgrimage church at Svatý Kopeček. In this church, Handke also decorated the pendentives of the dome with four monumental allegories of continents.
Gradually, however, a somewhat routine approach creeps into Handke’s work, and the originally rich colour palette is replaced by sonorous local tones. An example of this tendency can be seen in the altarpieces from the lives of St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius of Loyola found in the side chapels of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows in Olomouc.
Handke lived out his artistically fruitful life in the care of his daughter Jana Frantiska. He died in 1774 in his home and was buried in the now defunct Olomouc Church of Our Lady of the Forecourt.
