Johann Jakob Fugger or Hans Jakob Fugger (23 December 1516, Augsburg - 14 July 1575, Munich) was a German banker and patron of the arts and sciences from the von der Lilie (of the Lily) line of the noted Fugger banking family.[1]
He was the son of Raymund Fugger (1489–1535) and his wife Katharina Thurzó (1488–1535), daughter of János Thurzó, owner of a mining company.[2] Johann Jakob inherited the business from his father's brother Anton Fugger in 1560 but did not prove so fortunate in his business dealings - the family had lent money to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, landing them in deep trouble when Spain went bankrupt. Johann Jakob had to sell off his whole collection (except his library) to improve matters and handed the business over to his cousin Marcus (1529–1597), who was able to consolidate it. In 1565 he entered Albert V's service and later became president of his privy chamber.
On Titian's advice, Johann Jakob brought Titian's pupil Antonio Ponzano to Augsburg to paint frescoes in the inner courtyard of the Fuggerhäuser - frescoes had already been painted on the building's inner courtyard and outer wall by Hans Burckmair the Younger (1500–1562) and Albrecht Altdorfer. Jacopo Strada also acted as Johann Jakob's art agent in Italy. He was in correspondence with cardinal de Grandvelle - one of his letters to him was included in Pelisson's Traité de la Tolérance des religions (Treatise on Tolerance of religions). He also had a major library and tried to convince Hieronymus Wolf to become its librarian. In 1571 he sold it to Albert V, making it the nucleus of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.
Johann Jakob is also thought to be the author of the two folio-volume Wahrhaftigen Beschreibung des österreichischen und habsburgischen Rahmens, Herkommens, Geschlechte, Fortpflanzung (True Description of the Austrian and Habsburg Houses...), written in German, with over 30,000 coats of arms, seals, portraits and other images. Copies of it survive in libraries in Vienna and Dresden, Lambécius and Rollar published fragments from it and Sigismond de Birken published an extract under the title Spiegel der Ehren des höchstlöblichen Kayser- und Königlichen Ertzhauses Oesterreich (Mirror of the Lords of the most high Imperial and Kingly House of Austria).[3]
He married twice: