Anton Boys

Anton Boys or Anton Waiss (born between 1530 and 1550 – died after 1593) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and printmaker who after training in Antwerp had an international career, which brought him to Italy, Spain, Prague, Innsbruck and Landshut. Boys was also an important witness and illustrator of key events in the life of the Habsburgs: he made the engravings for a book describing celebrations on the occasion of the grant of the Order of the Golden Fleece to leading Imperial court members and created an almost life-size depiction of a wedding banquet of a powerful aristocratic family in the service of the Imperial family.

Life The artist was born in Antwerp, which was at the time located in the Habsburg Netherlands. The date of his birth is not known and estimates vary from to . In 1572, he became a free master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke.

In the period from 1574 to 1576 he is believed to have traveled to Italy and Spain. In the period from 1579 to 1593 the artist is recorded as being active in Prague, Innsbruck and Landshut. It is around this time that the artist starts using the Germanised form of his name 'Anthoni (Anton) Waiss'.

He married in 1587 with Barbara Geiger from Innsbruck and established a foundation for the poor in 1589 with a donation of 100 guilders. A record from 1589 refers to the deterioration of the health of Anton Boys and the need to find a new court painter.

The book was written by Paul Zehendter von Zehendtgrueb, the secretary of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. It provides a detailed description of the ceremonies and festivities held in Prague and Landshut on the occasion of the grant of the Order of the Golden Fleece to Emperor Rudolph II, the Archdukes Karl and Ernst, and some other princes and noblemen.

For the purpose of the grant of the Order, the whole court went on a journey from Innsbruck over Prague and Landshut and then to Munich and back. The book does not only describe each stop on the trip, but also all the members of the great entourage, including the author Zehendter von Zehendtgrueb and the artist Anton Boys. Anton Boys had been commissioned to illustrate the volume with folding plates of the events. These folding plates show cavalry battles, ritual ceremonies, celebrations of mass, processions, banquets, table decorations, gun practice and fireworks.

Count Jakob Hannibal I was a scion of a very powerful family and his mother Clara (or Chiara) de' Medici was a sister of Pope Pius IV. The count himself was an important military leader, who was in the service of the Habsburgs and was also the head of the Vatican army.

The Banquet of the Hohenems family shows all the important members of the host's family and some of his friends sitting at a festive table, which is placed in the park of a Renaissance palace. A total of 24 persons are sitting at the banquet table, not all of whom have been identified. In the background an idealized mountain landscape is visible. Carlo Borromeo was also the half-brother of the count's wife. The count has just offered his brother Mark Sittich a small round fruit, which his brother has accepted and is holding pinned on the table with his left index finger. The gesture shows the close relationship between the brothers. Another intimate scene is played out at the center of the table where the wedding couple is sitting: the bridegroom Fortunat Freiherr zu Madruz has pierced with his knife tip a pear that his bride Margaretha von Hohenems (the sister of the host) retains with her hand on her plate. In the foreground, the sommelier is busy filling the drinking goblets in gilt silver, protected by a lid. The cup bearers subsequently carry the goblets to the guests who have asked for them.