Daniel Hisgen

Signature as “Hisgen pictor” (painter) on an invoice from 1765

Daniel Hisgen (* 10. April 1733 probably in Nieder-Weisel ; † 19th February 1812 in Lich ) was a German painter of the Rococo , which as a church painter in Upper Hesse worked.

Life and family

House of the Hisgen family at Seelenhofgasse 2 in Lich (house no.139)

Families with the name Hisgen have lived in the Montabaur , Wetzlar and Lich area for centuries . Daniel Hisgen was the eldest son of pastor Johann Georg Hisgen (born August 30, 1707; † June 2, 1769) and his wife Johannetta Judith Budoin (Johanna Budi) (born February 4, 1706; † February 23, 1765 in Nieder-Weisel ) born. Godmother was an unmarried sister of the father. His father was born in Wetzlar and from 1732 until his death held the pastoral position in Nieder-Weisel, where Daniel Hisgen grew up. Since the church records of Nieder-Weisel had fallen victim to the great fire of 1761, Johann Georg and the villagers created a church record from 1690 to 1761 from memory.

On November 28, 1769, Daniel Hisgen married Philippina Louisa Stiehl (baptized August 8, 1747 - August 8, 1820) from Alten-Buseck . A church fine was imposed on both of them because their first daughter Johannetta Catharina (* December 21, 1769; † March 3, 1834) was born just four weeks after the marriage. The marriage resulted in a total of five children, in addition to the eldest daughter who remained unmarried, Friedrich Wilhelm (* March 22, 1773; † March 1, 1853), Maria Elisabetha (* May 5, 1775), Christian Wilhelm (* April 13, 1777 ; † May 27, 1839) and Johann Heinrich (born June 30, 1780). The latter's godfather was Daniel's brother Johann Henrich Hisgen, who is proven to be a “merchant and trader in Wetzlar”.

The eldest son Friedrich Wilhelm, government secretary in Hungen, was married to Catharina Margartha Rouge (born January 6, 1786). They had 14 children, including a son Georg Konrad (born April 19, 1820 in Lich; † March 18, 1898), who emigrated to America without his wife Katharina Preiss (1819–1898). Daniel Hisgen's fourth child, Christian Wilhelm, also became a painter and was also a merchant and shopkeeper. He married Katharina Elisabeth Hornivius (* 1775; † April 13, 1859) and had six children with her, including Johann Conrad Hisgen (* August 9, 1810; † May 26, 1897). Johann Conrad, painter and varnisher, was married to Anna Margarete Jung (born August 14, 1815 - June 5, 1836) for the first time. After her untimely death he married Juliana Barbara Völnele. In his third marriage he had four children. He emigrated to America and left a one and a half year old child in Hamelin, whereupon he was sentenced to four weeks in prison. Another son of Christian Wilhelm named Carl Quirin Hisgen (* March 21, 1812, † June 11, 1894) became a painter and emigrated to America. A grandson of Christian Wilhelm by the name of Karl Maximilian Hisgen (* February 2, 1844; † July 12, 1905) became a painter and his son of the same name, Karl Maximilian (* October 7, 1878). Johann Henrich, the fifth child of Daniel Hisgen, lived temporarily in Engelrod and in 1818 created a Luther portrait with a swan (oil on wood) for the Protestant church in Nieder-Oberrod and in 1837 a similar scene in a medallion for the Protestant church in Michelbach (Scots) . In 1847 he can be verified as a restorer in Darmstadt. A son of Friedrich Wilhelm, William (Carl Ludwig Wilhelm) Hisgen (1830-1897), emigrated to America around 1848 and became the father of Hisgens most famous descendant, the American manufacturer and presidential candidate Thomas L. Hisgen (1858-1925).

plant

Landscape idyll

Memorial plaque in Odenhausen (Lahn) from 1808

Hisgen mainly emerged as a church painter in Upper Hesse and worked primarily in today's district of Gießen , occasionally in the Wetzlar area and in the Vogelsberg area . His identity was unclear for a long time, so that he was temporarily referred to as "Freienseer Meister". Due to his characteristic style and the cyclical arrangement of his gallery paintings with biblical motifs, the parapet paintings in Bobenhausen II, Albach, Burkhardsfelden, Freienseen and Odenhausen / Lahn were initially attributed to the same hand. The figures wear contemporary rococo clothing and are represented in the same way in all cycles. Comparable with the Bible illustrations by Christoph Murer in the Tübingen Bible (published in 1591 by Georg Gruppenbach ), Hisgen stands in the tradition of the Biblia pauperum . The demanding works of rural art are based on models on the one hand, but develop them further in the late Baroque style, which is expressed in the lighting of the movement of the figures. This synthesis has been called the "drama of simplicity". In Atzbach and other churches, his students or children with “clumsy hands” worked on the gallery paintings, which suggests that the master has a good reputation. So far, gallery pictures by Hisgen have been identified with biblical scenes in twelve churches in Upper Hesse. The proportion of representations from the Old and New Testament is usually balanced. The passion story occupies the largest space among the New Testament representations . The total of more than 300 pictures are spread over 66 Bible scenes, 28 of which have only been painted once. Hisgen has repeatedly designed other motifs based on the same model, especially the Annunciation and the birth of Christ .

As a church painter, Hisgen also painted church ceilings and other inventory items. A first activity as a painter can be proven in a Nieder-Weisel municipality invoice from 1754. In 1762/1763 he worked for the new version of the pulpit and princely chair in the Marienstiftskirche Lich for 146 days, for which he received 292 guilders . In the Albach Church , Hisgen painted the cheeks of the church stalls with floral motifs and the corners of the ceiling with angel medallions. In 1778 he gilded the tower button, weather vane and star of the church in Ober-Hörgern . Hisgen provided the case of the organ of the Licher Marienstiftskirche with a new frame and gilding in 1780 and painted the prospect pipes silver. At the old age of 75, Hisgen painted the church in Odenhausen / Lahn in 1808 and created a memorial plaque. In November 2015, a small painting with an idyllic landscape painting was discovered in Lich.

List of works

In many cases, Hisgen's authorship is based on attributions and style comparisons. Preserved parapet paintings can be found in the following churches:

year	place	church	description	image
1765	Bobenhausen II	Protestant church	48 unsigned parapet paintings (oil on canvas): 4 evangelists, 12 apostles and a cycle of pictures from the creation of the world to Pentecost
1767	Atzbach (Hesse)	Protestant church	43 parapet pictures with 18 scenes from the Old Testament and 25 from the New Testament ; Hisgen's authorship proven
1770	Upper clover	St. Michaelis	25 parapet pictures with biblical scenes from creation to Pentecost and a large ceiling painting; Hisgen's authorship proven
1770s	Ettingshausen	Protestant church	Six of twelve parapet paintings were preserved after a church renovation, a seventh was given to Oberkirchenrat Petri from Darmstadt, an eighth was enlarged and painted over by church painter Kurt Scriba, suspected authorship of Hisgens, who also painted the church, with paintings on the pulpit in the same simple style the 12 apostles
1772?	Ebersgöns	Protestant church	17 unsigned parapet pictures with biblical scenes (ten from the Old and seven from the New Testament)
1773	Open lakes	Protestant church	unsigned parapet pictures with 14 scenes from the Old Testament, 10 from the New Testament, flower arrangements on the parapets of the stalls
1774	Albach (Fernwald)	Protestant church	Parapet pictures with 19 scenes from the Old Testament, 14 from the New Testament; Hisgen's authorship proven; Hisgen has also painted the cheeks and parapets of the church stalls and the parish chair with flower arrangements and the corners of the ceiling with medallions showing motifs of angels and flowers.
1775	Lang-Göns	James Church	24 parapet pictures with biblical scenes, 20 of which were restored and hung, 4 stored pictures were rediscovered in 2018; one picture is signed
1775–1776?	Nonnenroth	Evangelical Reformed Church	4 unsigned evangelist pictures on the east gallery, flowers on the parapets of the stalls
around 1780	Burkhardsfelden	Protestant church	15 unsigned parapets of the four evangelists and from the life of Jesus; In addition, eight religious figures from the Old Testament on the pulpit (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job and Noah, Moses, Aaron, Joshua)
1785/1786	Oppenrod	Protestant church	16 parapet pictures with New Testament scenes from the Annunciation to the Entombment, one picture signed; some more pictures were probably removed when the organ gallery was installed.
1789	Loan yesterday	Protestant church	26 parapet pictures with biblical scenes, one picture signed
1806-1808	Odenhausen (Lahn)	Protestant church	27 parapet pictures with biblical scenes (eight of them signed) and a large signed ceiling picture with the baptism of Jesus; Today 21 pictures hang in the aisles, seven on the new west gallery; also tendrils of flowers on parapets

literature

• Georg Dehio : Handbook of German art monuments , Hessen I: Administrative districts of Giessen and Kassel. Edited by Folkhard Cremer, Tobias Michael Wolf and others. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-03092-3 .
• Wilhelm Diehl : Pastor and schoolmaster book for the Hesse-Darmstadt sovereign lands. (Hassia sacra; 4). Self-published, Darmstadt 1930, pp. 191–194.
• Peter Weyrauch : The churches of the old district of Giessen. Mittelhessische Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Giessen 1979.
• Heinz-Lothar Worm : Daniel Hisgen, the painter of our gallery pictures . In: Support Association of Ev. Parishes Dorlar and Atzbach (ed.): When God shows himself. 43 devotions to the gallery pictures of the Ev. Atzbach Church. Parish of Atzbach, Atzbach 2012, pp. 8–9.

Web links

Commons : Daniel Hisgen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Gießener Allgemeine Zeitung of April 19, 2011: Photo panels return to the Atzbach church

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Worm: Daniel Hisgen. 2012, p. 8.
2. ^ Diehl: Pastor and schoolmaster book. 1930, p. 192.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Worm: Daniel Hisgen. 2012, p. 9.
4. ↑ Lich local history working group (ed.): Lich. Past and present. 2nd Edition. Local history study group, Lich 1986, p. 109.
5. ↑ Gerhard Seib, Volkmar Joestel, Jutta Strehle (ed.): Luther with the swan. Death and transfiguration of a great man. Schelzky & Jeep, Berlin 1996, pp. 129, 152, 155.
6. ^ American Historical Society: Encyclopedia of Massachusetts, biographical-genealogical. Vol. 12, p. 73 , accessed July 3, 2019.
7. ^ G. Ulrich Großmann: Art history of the Gießen district. In: Konrad Theiss, Hans Schleuning (ed.): The district of Gießen between Lahn and Vogelsberg. Theiss, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-8062-0151-X , pp. 137–153, here: p. 145.
8. ↑ The Evangelical Church in Atzbach , accessed on July 3, 2019.
9. ^ Hermann Hinkel: The gallery paintings in the Protestant parish church loan yesterday. In: Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Leihgestern (Ed.): 1908–2008. 100 years parish festival of the Evangelical Church on loan yesterday. Linden 2008, pp. 68–79, here: p. 69.
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Gießener Zeitung of December 4, 2015: Unknown picture discovered by Hisgen , accessed on July 3, 2019.
11. ^ Franz Bösken , Hermann Fischer : Sources and research on the organ history of the Middle Rhine (=  contributions to the Middle Rhine music history . Volume 29.1 ). tape 3 : Former province of Upper Hesse. Part 1: A-L . Schott, Mainz 1988, ISBN 3-7957-1330-7 , p. 609 .
12. ↑ ^{a b} Weyrauch: The churches of the old district of Gießen. 1979, p. 144.
13. ↑ Gallery of the Ev. Atzbach Church , accessed on July 3, 2019.
14. ^ Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Hessen I. 2008, p. 39.
15. ↑ Erwin Glaum, Hans Gerhard Stahl: The Protestant St. Michaelis Church in Oberkleen. (= Oberkleener Heimathefte ; Vol. 3). 3. Edition. Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Oberkleen, Oberkleen 2015, pp. 80–83.
16. ↑ The local historical society Oberkleen brought in 2015 a large wall calendar with the rise of 25 images of Oberkleener church out Giessen Gazette of 31 October 2015 wall calendar in honor of Daniel Hisgens , accessed on 3 July of 2019.
17. ^ The altarpiece in the Rimbach church , accessed on July 3, 2019.
18. ↑ Hartmut Miethe, Werner Viehl, support group art - people - church (ed.): Chronicle of the parish Ettingshausen and Hattenrod. (= Church history books from the archive of the parish Ettingshausen-Hattenrod 2 ). Ettingshausen 1995, p. 48.
19. ↑ Evangelical Church Ebersgöns. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .  
20. ^ Weyrauch: The churches of the old district Gießen. 1979, p. 6.
21. ^ Weyrauch: The churches of the old district Gießen. 1979, p. 105, presumably 1724 as the date of origin; this year the pulpit was renewed.
22. ^ Weyrauch: The churches of the old district Gießen. 1979, p. 149.