Johann Evangelist Holzer
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Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
Holzer was born in Burgeis, Mals
Mals
Mals is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 80 km northwest of Trento and about 70 km northwest of Bolzano, on the border with Switzerland and Austria.-Geography:...
, in the Vinschgau Valley of South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
, as the son of a miller
Miller
A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a cereal crop to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world...
. He was sent to undertake a classical course of study at Marienberg Abbey
Marienberg Abbey
Marienberg Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Mals, Vinschgau in South Tyrol, northern Italy. It was founded in 1149 or 1150 by Ulrich von Tarasp and other nobles.It has maintained a long tradition of education and, at 1,340 m, it is Europe’s highest abbey...
, but wished to study art; a portrait he painted of Johann Baptist Murr, then the abbot of the abbey, convinced his father to yield to his wishes. He studied under Nikolaus Auer and made rapid progress. At the age of 18 he painted the altarpiece of the Marienberg Abbey church, depicting Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
as patron of the afflicted, ill, and dying. He then went to Straubing
Straubing
Straubing is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held....
, where he learned under Joseph Anton Merz
Joseph Anton Merz
Joseph Anton Merz was a German Baroque painter.Merz was born in Marktoberdorf, in Swabia. He was active until 1734, mainly around Straubing, in Bavaria, and predominantly painted altarpieces and frescos. His better known works include a fresco cycle in the Oberalteich Abbey, and the ceiling fresco...
how to paint fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
s, which would become the main source of his later fame. He helped Merz paint the frescos of Oberalteich Abbey
Oberalteich Abbey
Oberalteich Abbey or Monastery was a house of the Benedictine Order in Bogen in Bavaria.-History:...
, and while in Straubing also painted Saint Anthony of Padua for the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
church there.
1738/39 was in the painting of Eichstätt for the high altar of the Schutzengelkirche It is Holzer's largest painting on canvas (H: 8,36 m; B: 4,28 m) and impresses through movement, gesture, a dynamic composition, and a sophisticated lighting design. Although there are two pictures (side altars) signatures of Bergmüller, they will Holzer, assigned by the archives occupied painter of the high altar painting.
Following this period, he went to Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, where he stayed with Johann Georg Bergmüller
Johann Georg Bergmüller
Johann Georg Bergmüller was an important painter, particularly of frescoes, of the Baroque.- Life :Bergmüller was born in Türkheim near Buchloe and received his first artistic education at his father's cabinet making workshop. From 1702 until 1708 he was apprentice to court painter Johann Andreas...
for six years, and became considerably better known. His services were particularly in demand in Augsburg for painting frescos for public buildings and on the exteriors of houses, though few of these now survive. Among his works in other locations are a fresco in the garden hall of the Bishop of Eichstädt, an altarpiece for the Jesuitenkirche in Eichstädt, an altarpiece depicting Saint Michael in the abbey church of Diessen
Dießen am Ammersee
Dießen am Ammersee is a municipality in the district of Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany.-References:...
, and a fresco in the Church of St. Anton in Partenkirchen. His last and largest works are frescos for Münsterschwarzach Abbey
Münsterschwarzach Abbey
Münsterschwarzach Abbey , is a Benedictine monastery in Germany. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Schwarzach and Main in Bavaria....
. At the time of his death Holzer had been commissioned by Clemens August of Bavaria
Clemens August of Bavaria
Clemens August of Bavaria was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne.-Biography:...
to paint frescos in the Hofkirche of Clemenswerth, but he died in 1740 before his arrival there.
Note
- This article, or an earlier version, was translated from an article in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, a work now in the public domain.