Updated November 2026 · ranked by our popularity score (searches, visits and orders for each work) · 32 works by Christopher Paudiß in our catalogue
In short
Martyrdom of Saint Thiemo (1662) is the Christopher Paudiß painting that draws the most eyes; the original belongs to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. After it, the eye goes to Peasants in a tavern (1664) and Portrait of a man with dark hair, probably Alphons Zeffiri (1660). Among the 32 works of Christopher Paudiß in our catalog, these 32 are the most famous, each a unique original presented with its year, its museum and the reason it endures.
The air in the room feels heavy, thick with the scent of iron and dust. On the ground, a pale, limp body lies prone, the stillness of death clashing violently with the chaos surrounding it. This is the end of Saint Thiemo, a man once of noble Bavarian blood and a high prelate of Salzburg, now reduced to a silent, broken form. The scene is a whirlwind of motion and…
A single, steady light spills from the upper right, cutting through the heavy gloom of a 17th-century tavern. It finds an elderly man seated in a chair, his white beard catching the glow against the deep umber of the room. Beside him, a younger boy sits on the floor, a quiet presence in the cramped, dim space. The air feels thick with the scent of wood and old dust. A…
A man stares directly from the canvas, his gaze meeting the viewer with a quiet, heavy intensity. He sits in a space defined by deep, umber shadows, where the darkness seems to press in from the edges of the frame. A strong light source from the upper left cuts through this gloom, washing over the pale skin of his face and catching the crisp, white folds of a voluminous collar.…
In The Head of a Girl by Christopher Paudiß, we find a quiet, intimate encounter with a single human figure. The composition is a close-up portrait, focusing our attention entirely on the subject's head and shoulders. By positioning the girl slightly off-center, Paudiß avoids a rigid symmetry, lending the work a natural, unforced presence. The background is composed of deep, moody blues that recede into shadow, allowing the subject to…
Old man with a slate1645 · Bavarian State Painting Collections
12
Christ at Emmaus1644 · Bavarian State Painting Collections
13
Diogenes1645 · Bavarian State Painting Collections
14
The kiss of Judas and the arrest of Christ1645 · Bavarian State Painting Collections
15
Tronie of an old man with beard and baret1643
16
Still Life with Beer, Herring and Pipe1660 · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
17
Self-Portrait?1661 · National Gallery Prague
18
Tronie of a man with a beret1653 · Augusteum
19
Portrait of a Hajduk with cap1663 · Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
20
Self-portrait with hat1665 · Bavarian State Painting Collections
21
Peasant couple resting on the road1663 · Bavarian State Painting Collections
22
The court butcher of Freising1664 · Bavarian State Painting Collections
23
Der hl. Hieronymus1665 · Bavarian State Painting Collections
24
Portrait of a bearded old man with hat1663 · Kunsthistorisches Museum
25
Tronie of an old man with a fur cap1654 · Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
26
Self-portrait with a grey hat1659 · Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
27
still life with two fishes1643
28
Kitchen Still Life1661 · Szépművészeti Múzeum
29
Portrait of a lady1660 · Pushkin State Museum
30
Bust portrait of an old man with a gorget1653 · Gemäldegalerie
31
Still life with the heads of two calves1658 · Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
32
Woman with HeadscarfBavarian State Painting Collections
The four subjects that come back most often in these originals, each with its finest example.
The 8 museums that hold the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by Christopher Paudiß | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bavarian State Painting Collections |
Munich | 15 | Tronie of an old man with beret, Peasant returning from the market, Girl lighting a candle |
 Kunsthistorisches Museum |
Vienna | 4 | Martyrdom of Saint Thiemo, Peasants in a tavern, Portrait of a man with dark hair, probably Alphons Zeffiri |
 Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden |
Dresden | 3 | Tronie of an old man with a fur cap, Self-portrait with a grey hat, Still life with the heads of two calves |
 Hermitage Museum |
Saint Petersburg | 1 | The Head of a Girl |
 Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen |
Rotterdam | 1 | Still Life with Beer, Herring and Pipe |
 National Gallery Prague |
Prague | 1 | Self-Portrait? |
 Augusteum |
Oldenburg | 1 | Tronie of a man with a beret |
 Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister |
Dresden | 1 | Portrait of a Hajduk with cap |
Pick a decade to see the original that defines it.
In The Head of a Girl by Christopher Paudiß, we find a quiet, intimate encounter with a single human figure. The composition is a close-up portrait, focusing our attention entirely on the subject's head and shoulders. By positioning the girl slightly off-center, Paudiß avoids a rigid symmetry, lending the work a natural, unforced presence. The background is composed of deep, moody blues that recede into shadow, allowing the subject to…
The air in the room feels heavy, thick with the scent of iron and dust. On the ground, a pale, limp body lies prone, the stillness of death clashing violently with the chaos surrounding it. This is the end of Saint Thiemo, a man once of noble Bavarian blood and a high prelate of Salzburg, now reduced to a silent, broken form. The scene is a whirlwind of motion and…
Martyrdom of Saint Thiemo (1662), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Peasants in a tavern (1664) and Portrait of a man with dark hair, probably Alphons Zeffiri (1660) come next.
32 years old: Martyrdom of Saint Thiemo dates from 1662, and Christopher Paudiß was born in 1630.
Martyrdom of Saint Thiemo, Peasants in a tavern, Portrait of a man with dark hair, probably Alphons Zeffiri, The Head of a Girl, Tronie of an old man with beret, Peasant returning from the market, Girl lighting a candle, Dancing peagant couple in a taproom, Old man singing and playing the lute and Portrait of a young man with hat. The ranking above gives each one's year and museum.
Our catalog holds 32 works by Christopher Paudiß, dated from 1643 to 1665.
Mostly in Bavarian State Painting Collections (Munich), Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna) and Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden). The museum table above lists them all.
In 1660s: 13 of the 32 works on this page were made then, Martyrdom of Saint Thiemo among them.
On this page, the earliest is Tronie of an old man with beard and baret (1643) and the latest Self-portrait with hat (1665).
Man (4), Earthy tones (3) and Shadows (2), across the 32 works on this page.
Oil On Canvas, for 4 of the 32 works on this page.
Baroque, judging by the originals on this page.
Tronie of an old man with beret, Peasant returning from the market and Girl lighting a candle: the Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich holds 15 of the works on this page.
The life of Christoph Paudiss moved with the restless energy of the seventeenth century, tracing a path from Lower Saxony to the final years spent in Freising. Born around 1630, his early years were shaped by the profound influence of Rembrandt van Rijn. In the studios of Amsterdam and Leiden, he learned the language of light and shadow, a technical foundation that would define his later work across Europe. His career was marked by constant movement through the great centers of the era, including Stuttgart, Prague, Dresden, Vienna, and Salzburg.
This peripatetic existence reflected the shifting political landscape of the Bavarian Baroque period. By 1656, he was working in Stuttgart, and later moved through the courts of Central Europe. His final years were anchored in Freising, where he served under Fürstbischof Albrecht Sigismund von Bayern. It was here, amidst the quietude of Upper Bavaria, that his life reached its premature end in 1666.
Paudiss possessed a particular talent for capturing the somber realities of daily existence. His paintings and frescoes often focused on dark, unadorned scenes of common life. He did not seek to idealize his subjects; instead, he utilized chiaroscuro to bring a sense of weight and psychological depth to the ordinary. Whether depicting a kitchen still life or a portrait of a young man in a fur hat, his brushwork emphasized texture and the heavy presence of light against deep umber and ochre tones.
His repertoire was varied, ranging from religious subjects to intimate genre scenes. Some of his notable works include:
In his still lifes, such as those featuring beer, herring, and a pipe, he used everyday objects to create a sense of presence. These compositions often functioned as quiet meditations on the passage of time. The technical precision with which he rendered ceramic glazes or the rough grain of a wall allowed him to communicate a sense of realism that resonated within the German Baroque tradition.
Though his life was short, the physical remnants of his work remain distributed across the continent. Much of his output is held within the Freisinger Diözesanmuseum, which contains the largest collection of his paintings. Other pieces reside in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden. His ability to translate the Dutch influence of Rembrandt into a specifically Bavarian context left a distinct mark on the regional art of his time.
