Matthäus Günther
Encyclopedia
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...
and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
of the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
era.
Günther, who was born in Peissenberg (at that time: Tritschengreith), helped develop the rococo style of painting in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
and Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
, working on over 40 churches. His known work includes about 70 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...
es and 25 panels. In particular, he was known for his life-like imagery and lively coloring.
Günther studied in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
from 1723 to 1728 with Cosmas Damian Asam
Cosmas Damian Asam
Cosmas Damian Asam was a German painter and architect during the late Baroque period. Born in Benediktbeuern, he moved to Rome in 1711 to study at the Accademia di San Luca with Carlo Maratta. There, he could see the fresco Ascensione di Cristo by Melozzo da Forlì in Santi Apostoli Church...
, the older of the two Asam brothers
Asam brothers
The Asam Brothers were sculptors, workers in stucco, painters, and architects, who worked mostly together and in southern Germany...
, and perfected his fresco painting in 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...
. He frequently worked with some of the greatest artists of his time, including the architect Johann Michael Fischer
Johann Michael Fischer
Johann Michael Fischer was a German architect in the late Baroque period....
and the plasterer
Plasterer
A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls...
Johann Michael Feuchtmayer
Johann Michael Feuchtmayer
Johann Michael Feuchtmayer was a German Baroque stucco sculptor and plasterer of the Wessobrunner School, who worked alongside Johann Michael Fischer, Johann Joseph Christian, and Franz Joseph Spiegler to create some of the most famous churches along the Upper...
and his brother Franz Xaver
Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer
Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer was a German Baroque stucco plasterer of the Wessobrunner School.A member of the famous Feuchtmayer family, he was the son of Michael Feuchtmayer Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer (the Elder) (1698, Wessobrunn, Bavaria – 1763) was a German Baroque stucco plasterer of the...
. He died in Haid near Wessobrunn
Wessobrunn
Wessobrunn is a municipality in the district of Weilheim-Schongau in Bavaria in Germany.-Paterzell airfield:Paterzell airfield is located in Wessobrunn. The local aeroclub Luftsportverein Weilheim-Peißenberg competes in glider aerobatics. The German National Champion in 2006, Markus Feyerabend...
.
Major works
Bavaria
- AmorbachAmorbachAmorbach is a town in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany, with some 4,100 inhabitants .- Location :...
—Benedictine Abbey Church of St. MariaAmorbach AbbeyAmorbach Abbey was a Benedictine monastery located at Amorbach in the district of Miltenberg in Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- History :...
(high altar and ceiling frescoes) (1742–1747) - Dießen am AmmerseeDießen am AmmerseeDießen am Ammersee is a municipality in the district of Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany.-References:...
—Church of St. Georgen (parts of altar) (1750) - FriedbergFriedberg, BavariaFriedberg is a city in the district Aichach-Friedberg, Bavaria, Germany, with some 30,000 inhabitants. It is located next to Augsburg at the Lech river...
—Pilgrimage Church of the Peace of the Lord (ceiling painting in the nave) (1747; 1764) - Garmisch-PartenkirchenGarmisch-PartenkirchenGarmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...
—New Parish Church of St. Martin (ceiling frescoes) (1733) - Greisstätt-AltenhohenauWasserburg am InnWasserburg am Inn is a town in the district Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria, Germany. The historic centre is a peninsula, formed by the meandering Inn River...
—Monastery Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (choir fresco) - IndersdorfMarkt IndersdorfMarkt Indersdorf is a municipality in the district of Dachau in Bavaria in Germany....
—Augustinian Canonry (frescoes depicting life of St. AugustineAugustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
) (1755) - MittenwaldMittenwaldMittenwald is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria.-Geography:Mittenwald is located approx. 16 kilometers to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen...
—Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (ceiling paintings and high altar; tower) (1740; 1746) - OberammergauOberammergauOberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The town is famous for its production of a Passion Play, its woodcarvers, and the NATO School.-Passion Play:...
—Catholic Parish Church (frescoes) (1759; 1761) - Polling bei WeilheimPolling, Weilheim-SchongauPolling is a municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district, in Bavaria, Germany.It is the birthplace of the 12th century theologian Gerhoh of Reichersberg....
—Lay brothers' refectoryRefectoryA refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
of the Augustinian Canonry ChurchPolling AbbeyPolling Abbey is a former monastery in Polling bei Weilheim, district of Weilheim-Schongau, in Upper Bavaria, Germany.According to legend, the founder was Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria in about 750, but it seems more likely that the founders were members of the powerful Bavarian noble family of the...
(fresco of ParnassusMount ParnassusMount Parnassus, also Parnassos , is a mountain of limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs,...
) (1775–1778) - Rott am InnRott am InnRott am Inn is a municipality in the district of Rosenheim in Bavaria in Germany....
—Benedictine Abbey Church of St. Marinus and St. Anianus (dome frescoes and other frescoes) (1763) - RottenbuchRottenbuchRottenbuch is a municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is the site of Rottenbuch Abbey church....
—Augustinian Church of Birth of the Virgin (frescoes of the life of St. AugustineAugustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
) (1750) - SchongauSchongau, BavariaSchongau is a small town in Bavaria, near the Alps. It is located along the Lech, between Landsberg am Lech and Füssen. It has about 12,000 inhabitants...
—Parish Church of Mariae Himmelfahrt (frescoes) (1753) - WessobrunnWessobrunn AbbeyWessobrunn Abbey was a Benedictine monastery near Weilheim in Bavaria, Germany.It is celebrated as the home of the famous Wessobrunn Prayer and also of a Baroque school of stucco workers and plasterers in the 18th century....
—Kreuzberg Chapel (ceiling frescoes) (1771–1772) - WessobrunnWessobrunn AbbeyWessobrunn Abbey was a Benedictine monastery near Weilheim in Bavaria, Germany.It is celebrated as the home of the famous Wessobrunn Prayer and also of a Baroque school of stucco workers and plasterers in the 18th century....
—Pilgrimage Church of St. Leonhard im Forst (ceiling frescoes) (1761) - WürzburgWürzburgWürzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
—Pilgrimage Church of St. Maria (Marienkapelle) (frescoes) (1752)
Tyrol
- FieberbrunnFieberbrunnFieberbrunn is a market town in Tyrol, Austria, in the Kitzbühel district. It is located at , in the Kitzbühel Alps. Fieberbrunn has a population of 4,180 , and is the most populous municipality in the Pillerseetal valley....
—Chapel of Johann Nepomuk (frescoes) (1762) - FiechtSchwazSchwaz is a city in Tyrol, Austria. It is the administrative center of the Schwaz district . Schwaz is located in the lower Inn valley, and has a population of about 13,000....
—Collegiate Church of St. JosefSt. Georgenberg-Fiecht AbbeySt. Georgenberg-Fiecht Abbey, the successor of St. Georgenberg Abbey, is a Benedictine monastery situated since 1708 in Fiecht in the community of Vomp in Tyrol, Austria; a pilgrimage church still stands on the original site on the Georgenberg...
(frescoes) (1740–1744) - GötzensGötzensGötzens is a community in the district of Innsbruck-Land in Tyrol and lies on a terrace of the highlands above the capital. The nearest neighbouring villages are Axams and Birgitz in the west. The village was founded in 1869.-External links:*...
—Parish Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul (dome frescoes of lives of PeterSaint PeterSaint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and PaulPaul of TarsusPaul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
) (1775) - GrinsLandeck (district)The Bezirk Landeck is an administrative district in Tyrol, Austria. It borders the district Reutte in the north, the district Imst in the east, South Tyrol and Graubünden in the south, and the district Bludenz in the west.The area of the district is 1,594.81 km²...
—Parish Church of St. Nikolaus (stucco and ceiling paintings) (1779) - InnsbruckInnsbruck- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
—Chapel of Schloss Mentelberg (stucco and ceiling paintings) - InnsbruckInnsbruck- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
—Wilten Basilica (1754) (ceiling frescoes) (1770) - RattenbergRattenbergRattenberg, Austria is a town on the Inn River, near Rattenberg mountain and Innsbruck. With a population of 440, it is the smallest town in the country....
—Parish Church of St. Virgil (ceiling frescoes and fresco in the sacristySacristyA sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
) (1736)