Augustin Bossi

Augustin Bossi (Italian Agostino Bossi ; born August 30, 1740 in Porto Ceresio , Lombardy ; † December 9, 1799 in Dettelbach ) was an Italian plasterer and fitter. Bossi mainly worked in the Bamberg Monastery and was awarded the title of court plasterer here in 1771.

Life

Augustin Bossi was born on August 30, 1740 in Porto Ceresio in Lombardy on Lake Lugano . He came from a family of stucco workers that should produce several well-known members. The profession of his father, Natale Bossi, is unclear, however. Augustine's mother, Clara Bossi, had several children, but not all of them reached adulthood. At the age of 15, Augustin Bossi was sent across the Alps to Würzburg in 1755 to learn the plastering trade with his older brother Materno .

In Würzburg, the couple's uncle, Antonio Bossi , was already employed as an outfitter in the service of the Prince-Bishop. After completing his apprenticeship Augustin began a six-year journey as a journeyman and wanderer, but the stages of this journey are not mentioned in the sources. Augustin may have accompanied his older brother to Stuttgart to work with another brother, Ludovico.

In 1771 Bossi applied for the title of court plasterer to the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg. At first he was only nominally employed here under this title. It was not until 1772 that he received his first orders from Bishop Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim : He was supposed to stucco the newly built residence and for this purpose lived in the old court next to the cathedral . Around the same time, Bossi began work on the Seehof summer residence , near the village of Memmelsdorf.

However , Augustin Bossi did not earn a lot of money as the court plasterer of the Bamberg bishops. However, Augustin Bossi probably never opened his own workshop, but always worked closely with his older brother Materno. Augustine was probably an important part of the workshop, but could never catch up with his brother. In 1775 both are mentioned in the course of the stuccoing of Seehof Castle, in 1786 Augustin Bossi is recorded in Gaukönigshofen .

At an unknown point in time, Augustin Bossi married Agnes Zehr, daughter of an innkeeper from Dettelbach . The plasterer settled in the Würzburg official city. Agnes gave him a total of eight children, of which only five, two daughters and one son, reached adulthood. Augustin worked with his brother until at least 1796. He died on December 9, 1799 in his house in Dettelbach.

Works (selection)

Since most of Augustin Bossi's works were not signed, the classification is only based on archival sources. The assignment to the Italian ₠ uvre is made even more difficult by the fact that the workshop also consisted of his older brother Materno in addition to Augustin and his employees.

place	year	plant
Amerdingen	1789-1790	Amerdingen Castle : stucco decoration
Bad Mergentheim	1780	Mergentheim Palace : Chapter House of the Teutonic Order
Bamberg	1772-1773	New residence: two hallways
Gaukönigshofen	1776-1777	Guardian Angel Church: stucco, modernization of the altars
Memmelsdorf	1770-1775	Seehof Castle : grotto, destroyed; Theatre; Garden shed
Triefenstein	1784-1786	Triefenstein Monastery : stucco and furnishings
Wipfeld	1786-1787	St. Johannes Baptist: stucco, high altar
Wurzburg	1773	Residence : chandelier, destroyed; Repairs to the stairwell

literature

• Iris Ch. Visosky-Antrack: Materno and Augustin Bossi. Stucco workers and outfitters at the Würzburger Hof in early classicism (= Art Studies, Vol. 83). Diss . Munich, Berlin 2000.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Visosky-Antrack, Iris Ch .: Materno and Augustin Bossi . P. 17.
2. ↑ Visosky-Antrack, Iris Ch .: Materno and Augustin Bossi . P. 18.
3. ↑ Visosky-Antrack, Iris Ch .: Materno and Augustin Bossi . P. 22.