Daniel Gran

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daniel Gran, self-portrait

Daniel Gran (* 22. May 1694 in Vienna , † 16th April 1757 in St. Poelten ) was an Austrian painter of the Baroque . After a century of Italian dominance in Austria, he was one of the first important painters in the German-speaking area alongside Johann Michael Rottmayr .

Life and education

Gran was the son of a court cook of Emperor Leopold I , and among his ancestors were glass painters . He was sponsored by Haus Schwarzenberg , which also financed a study trip to Italy , where he mainly studied with Sebastiano Ricci in Venice and Francesco Solimena in Naples . In his works, there is a fluctuation between Venetian influence in the coloring and Neapolitan influence in the composition. In addition to the Princely House of Schwarzenberg, the court also came as a client; In 1727 he was appointed court painter .

Since 1732 he had the ennobled form of his name: "Daniel le Gran" , or since 1736 the predicate "della Torre" . Making it an actual ennoblement had come, the nobility registry of the Vienna Gratialarchivs is doubtful rather the absence of all documents. It is more obvious that the master successfully claimed the title of nobility and coat of arms of an imperial ensign Nikolaus Gran della Torre (ennobled on May 12, 1621) and had it revived. An illegal use of the title of nobility and predicate would be unthinkable at that time and in view of the exposed social position of the artist.

In 1894 the Grangasse in Vienna Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus (15th district) was named after him.

plant

Dome fresco of the state hall of the Austrian National Library
Mary with the child and saints, enthroned on clouds , around 1730, Belvedere , Vienna
Admission of Diana to Mount Olympus , 1732, (draft for the ceiling fresco in the Eckartsau hunting lodge (Lower Austria)), Belvedere , Vienna
  • 1726 - Dome fresco for the Schwarzenberg Garden Palace (destroyed in 1945): Allegory of the dawn . As with Rottmayr, the background was not a representation of the day and night sky, but rather yellowish. The illusion effect was calculated for two opposing viewpoints, which was rather unusual for frescoes.
  • 1726–1730 - the dome fresco of the court library , today's national library , is Gran's main work: the program was designed by the imperial councilor Conrad von Albrecht and represents an apotheosis of the emperor Charles VI. In the center the emperor is supported by Heracles and Apollo , who are flanked by allegorical figures from various arts and sciences. The fresco has a “war side” (with the allegories of mathematics, geometry and mechanics) and a “peace side” (with the allegories of medicine, law and agriculture). The purpose of the library, the use of science by the state, which began at this time, is meant to be expressed.
  • around 1730 - Mary with the child and saints, enthroned on clouds . A variation based on the ceiling fresco allegory on the study of earthly things in the State Hall of the National Library in Vienna. (Vienna, Belvedere )
  • 1732 - Ceiling fresco in Schloss Eckartsau : Admission of Diana to Olympus . The illusionistic pseudo-architecture forms only a frame here, the painting plays in an indefinable space.
  • 1743 - Dome and nave frescoes of the pilgrimage church on Sonntagberg : here the illusionism is almost completely removed.
  • 1744 - Ceiling painting in the Schönbrunn Palace Chapel : St. Maria Madgalena and the theological virtues of faith, hope and love.
  • 1744 (presumed dating) - Frescoes in the castle church Hetzendorf : Baptism of Christ , Transfiguration of Christ and Sermon on the Mount . Initially attributed to Franz Josef Wiedon , the attribution to Daniel Gran is corroborated by two drawings in the Albertina and a study sheet in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest .
  • 1746 - Today no longer preserved side aisle domes as well as the 4 (still preserved) side altar pictures in the St. Pölten collegiate church at that time, today's St. Pölten cathedral: side altar paintings of hll. Barbara, Hippolyt and Augustine as well as the Josefi altar, which thematically shows the Holy Family, The Rest on the Flight. Gran also created the (still preserved) fresco for the central room of the monastery library: The Allegory of Wisdom.
  • 1746 (presumed dating): Oil sketch for the high altar picture of the church in Herzogenburg Abbey , then its large-format execution; In the following years order for the frescoing of the ceiling vaults of the collegiate church, which was carried out only in the choir room (completion of the ceiling frescos from 1750 by Bartolomeo Altomonte ).
  • 1749 - Marble Hall in Klosterneuburg Abbey : multi-part fresco depicting the glory of the House of Austria with a clear, almost classical composition. In the middle is an obelisk with a representation of Saint Leopold , around which putti with veils and elder trees (founding legend of Klosterneuburg) can be seen. All around you can see allegories of Austrian majesty (with the crowns of the Holy Roman Empire , Bohemia and Hungary ), Austrian bravery , and Austrian cleverness and steadfastness , as well as the representation of the union of the houses of Habsburg and Lorraine , where with a cupid among the allegorical Figures depicting the love marriage of Maria Theresa and Franz Stephan von Lothringen .
  • In 1751 Daniel Gran created the ceiling frescoes for the Anna Church in Vienna's 1st district. The first fresco shows the glory of Mother Anna, the second the glory of Mother Mary and the fresco above the organ shows the coming of the divine child. The high altar painting is also by Daniel Gran. It shows the Holy Tribe.
  • 1756 Dome fresco of the chapel of grace in the former Capuchin monastery and near Krems : The redemption of the world through the sending of Christ, his last work. He leads the viewer into the heavenly world and its work for the earth in eternity and in the now, in the midst of God the Father and the dove, Mary before Jesus child, angel fall, crucifixion - symbolically through angels who set up the cross, Adam and Eve.

Towards the end of his career, the “baroque” elements (richness of figures, illusionism, adventurousness) disappear more and more - Gran is therefore an important pioneer of classicism .

  • The Glory of the House of Austria , dome fresco in the marble hall of Klosterneuburg Monastery (1749)

  • Glory of St. Maria , fresco in the Anna Church Vienna

  • Dome fresco of the former Gnadenkapelle Und (1756)

  • Sermon on the Mount , Hetzendorf Castle Church

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walther Buchowiecki: The baroque building of the former court library in Vienna, a work by JB Fischer von Erlach, p. 146f. Georg Prachner Verlag, Vienna 1957
  2. ↑ Website of the castle church Hetzendorf, furnishing of the castle church with excerpts from the church chronicle , accessed on October 16, 2013

literature

Web links

Commons : Daniel Gran  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Gran, Daniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian baroque painter
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1694
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH April 16, 1757
Place of death St. Polten