Caspar Joseph Schwendimann

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Caspar Joseph Schwendimann

Caspar Joseph Schwendimann (born December 6, 1721 in Ebikon near Lucerne ; † November 30 or December 1, 1786 in Rome ) was a Swiss medalist , embosser and engraver . He was murdered in Rome.

Life and works

Caspar Joseph Schwendimann was a son of the cabinet maker and etcher Joseph Irenäus Schwendimann. He received his training from his father and also learned in Rome, Augsburg , Zug and Schwyz . According to the biography from Johann Caspar Füssli's pen, however, since his father repeatedly intervened and ordered him back home ahead of time, he was unable to complete a proper education. Only after Schwendimann senior died in 1756, according to Füssli, was Schwendimann able to devote himself entirely to art. He became the last student of the medalist Johann Karl Hedlinger . In 1772 he settled in Rome. Among other things, he created a prize medal for the Academy of San Luca in Rome and commemorative medals for Popes Clement XIV and Pius VI.

Several well-known Swiss and German artists were in the Eternal City when he was murdered, and the case caused a sensation, especially among them. Karl Philipp Moritz , who suffered a broken arm in a riding accident at the end of 1786, wrote to Johann Heinrich Campe on January 20, 1787 : “The pity of the Italians is particularly evident in accidents where they see someone in pain and a broken arm therefore makes you [sic!] far more sensation than if someone is murdered on the street; because that's a very common thing, and the dead man, you think [sic!], no longer suffers pain either. ”Schwendimann's murder happened almost at the same time as Moritz's accident. The sculptor Alexander Trippel reported on December 9, 1786 what had happened: The German die cutter August Wingen had asked Schwendimann, who had good connections in Rome, to help him and to get him orders. Schwendimann had not succeeded in doing this, so Wingen tried to persuade the Swiss to buy some used tools from him. Schwendimann gave Wingen some money, but did not want to take over the tools. On November 24th, 1786 there was an exchange of words and finally violence, during which August Wingen stabbed Schwendimann with numerous knife wounds. Alerted by the noise in Schwendimann's workshop, neighbors called the police. When a sbirren appeared , the attacker stuck the knife in his own body and took his own life. Schwendimann was admitted to a hospital and died six days later.

Un amazzato by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , who at that time lived with Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein in Rome and also had contact with Trippel, compared the case with the murder of the archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann . However, this was killed by an Italian, Francesco Arcangeli . Goethe did not comment on the case later, but one of Tischbein's first drawings that he sent to Weimar was a sheet that he titled Un amazzato and added the comment: “Tischbein came along when the notary did Procesverbally trained ”. In this picture the dead man is lying on the ground in the foreground with his upper body bare and showing a stab wound. Behind it, a crowd of curious people crowd around a writing man, probably the criminal court notary who is taking up the case. Approximately in the middle you can see a sbirren, recognizable by its three- cornered hat that shines with a candle. One of the spectators is also holding a burning candle. The onlookers show no regret for the dead, the perpetrator cannot be seen. According to Wolfgang von Oettingen , the two viewers on the left edge of the picture are probably Tischbein and Goethe.

literature

Web links

Commons : Caspar Joseph Schwendimann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thieme-Becker declares 1741 to be wrong. B. at Füssli, cf. Johann Caspar Füssli: History of the best artists in Switzerland , Orell, Gessner 1779, p. 123 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  2. ↑ This year can be found in Füssli, Theodor von Liebenau mentions the year 1765 in the ADB.
  3. ↑ Johann Caspar Füssli: History of the best artists in Switzerland , Orell, Gessner 1779, p. 126 ( limited preview in Google book search)
  4. ↑ Zapperi et al. Name this year, the ADB 1774.
  5. ↑ Quoted from Roberto Zapperi: Roman Traces , CH Beck 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-56295-2 , p. 71 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  6. ↑ Roberto Zapperi: Roman Traces , CH Beck 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-56295-2 , p. 71 ff. ( Limited preview in the Google book search)
  7. ↑ Wolfgang von Oettingen, Goethe and Tischbein , Weimar 1910 (= writings of the Goethe Society 25), p. 36
personal data
SURNAME Schwendimann, Caspar Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss medalist, embosser and engraver
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1721
PLACE OF BIRTH Ebikon near Lucerne
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 1786 or December 1, 1786
Place of death Rome