Jakob Meyer zum Hasen

Hans Holbein the Younger, Jakob Meyer zum Hasen, left panel of a double portrait with Dorothea Kannengiesser. Oil on wood, each panel 38.5 × 31 cm, Kunstmuseum Basel, Inv. Nr. 312

Jakob Meyer zum Hasen (1482 in Basel – 1531 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was the bürgermeister of the city of Basel from 1516 to 1521. A money changer by profession, he was the first bürgermeister of Basel to be a tradesman, belonging to a guild rather than a member of the aristocracy or a wealthy family. He is known as a patron of the painter Hans Holbein the Younger, having commissioned the Darmstadt Madonna and a double portrait from him.

Biography He was born in Basel as the son of a merchant. He used to change money in the House "To the Rabbit" (dt. Zum Hasen), which was situated at the location of the tower of the current town hall. and Meyer became, in 1516, the first mayor from a trade background. In the same year, he commissioned a double portrait with his second wife Dorothea Kannengieße r from Hans Holbein the Younger. He led a contingent of Basler warriors in the conquest of Milan in 1512 and the same year was also the leader of the Swiss emissaries who instated Maximilian Sforza as the Duke of Milan.