Johann Baptist Metzger
Johann Baptist Metzger ( Italian Giovanni Battista Metzger ; born October 1, 1771 , in Staufen im Breisgau ; † February 10, 1844 in Florence ) was a German engraver and art dealer living in Italy .
Life
Metzger was born as the son of the dyer Fridolin Metzger and Katharina Walliser. He was initially a copper engraver student with Ignatz Sebastian Klauber in Augsburg. Around 1796 he tried to take over in the workshop of Raphael Morghen (1758–1833) in Florence. He lived there for good from 1801 as one of 20 Morghen's students.
In 1807 he became executor of the will of the engraver Jakob Philipp Hackert .
Metzger was constantly in need of money, at least until 1825. In the first years in Florence he was supported slightly by Baron Karl von Baden (1770–1830) from Freiburg , who was an art patron and collector as a private person. Among others (Georg Hackert, the brother of Jakob Philipp Hackert, Johann Georg von Dillis , Ludwig I of Bavaria ) he also tried to get funding from the Baden Grand Duke Karl Friedrich , which was only granted in 1806/1807. In his desperation, Metzger decided to travel to Baden in 1813, which also took him back to his birthplace, Staufen. He wanted to clarify his future provision in direct negotiations, hoping to "study in Florence for two more years". Again and again he was given hopes, but these were ultimately disappointed. From 1813 (and at least until 1825) he received monthly support from Ludwig I of Bavaria. Although this was small, it was a regular source of income. In addition, he earned income by selling art to German collectors and collections and by publishing copperplate engravings.
A letter from Marie Ellenrieder dated February 3, 1825 shows that Metzger was married (to Anna Sottani) and had three sons at that time, who were 4 years, 2 years and 4 months old. Later a son and a daughter were born. The eldest son (1821–1862) was named after Ludwig I of Bavaria: Ludovico or Lodovico. Ludwig I of Bavaria was also the godfather of the child, whom he had admitted to a boarding school in Munich in 1828 at his own expense. Ludovico also later worked as an art dealer.
Metzger was acquainted with the Nazarenes and other artists. In the letter from Marie Ellenrieder it says: “Herr Metzger, who is an excellent man in all respects, has already given me a lot of good advice; and he is of great use to me, and he is also the one who led me to change my composition. He also tries to suppress the spirit of vanity everywhere, and precedes with the example of righteousness and the staid German sense, and he has a calmness of mind that is truly edifying. "
The Tyrolean painter Franz Lair shows Metzger in 1843 as an old man one year before his death. His watercolor bears the description "Greatest picture connoisseur of the Italian painting school and excellent restorer, formerly a copper engraver". It is lost as a result of World War II and is listed as being in the Lost Art Internet Database .
Metzger's financial situation when he died is unclear. According to one information, he died “benestante”, that is to say, well-to-do, according to another, he left no fortune, especially no house or property. Metzger was survived by his wife.
plant
Butchers' engravings are hardly known. One can only assume that he was involved in well-known engravings by Raphael Morghen. Metzger was a recognized picture restorer. Its importance lies above all in the fact that it became one of the most important art dealers in Florence and thus contributed to the development of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
At the beginning of the 19th century Europe was in a state of great upheaval due to Napoleon. In Italy, many noble families lost their fortunes due to the French invasion. In any case, as in Germany, the monasteries were in dire straits. This led to a large supply of works of art, which in England, France and Austria, but above all in Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt, was countered by the establishment of picture galleries. In addition, as the Nazarenes made clear, a new interest in medieval art emerged.
At exactly this time, Metzger was in Florence. He and other artists ( Johann David Passavant , Carl Friedrich von Rumohr or Johann Georg von Dillis ) saw thousands of paintings that were for sale and developed into experts in assessing, assigning and appraising works from Italy to which the interested party could had to fall back. Metzger was an outspoken connoisseur of Florentine painting and became an important dealer in Italian paintings. Passavant considered himself “infinitely lucky to have made such an excellent acquaintance”, according to Rumohr Metzger “acquired rare knowledge from the older Tuscan painting school, and achieved through his own examination and reflection, in cleaning and restoration (...) most imaginable degrees of perfection ”.
At the latest from 1808 until his death, Metzger had contact with Crown Prince Ludwig, who later became Ludwig I of Bavaria. He trusted him and tied him firmly in the Florentine purchases for the royal collection of paintings. He also worked for the Städelsche Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt (the art mediator responsible there, Johann David Passavant, called him "the most honest man in the world, very patriotic for his fatherland, knows what is worthy of a public gallery") and also mediated Painting to Friedrich Wilhelm III. from Prussia to Berlin, but he felt especially recognized and valued in Munich. He placed around 50 paintings in the local collection, most of which can still be seen in the Alte Pinakothek today. These include paintings by Mariotti Albertinelli ( Annunciation ), Fra Angelico ( Angel of Annunciation ), Domenico Beccafumi ( The Holy Family with John ), Sandro Botticelli ( Lamentation of Christ ), Domenico Ghirlandaio ( Madonna with the Child ), Giotto ( The Last Supper ) , Filippino Lippi ( The Intercession of Christ and Mary with the Predella ), Fra Filippo Lippi ( Mary with the Child , Annunciation ), Lorenzo di Credi ( Nativity ), Masolino ( Madonna with the Child ), Pietro Perugino ( The Marian Vision of St. Bernhard , Maria with the child - today in the Detroit Institute of Art), Raffael (Madonna Tempi, Bindo Altoviti - today in the National Gallery of Art in Washington) or Sodoma ( Holy Family ).
estate
In the German Art Archive in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg there are apparently unexplained biographical documents, extensive correspondence (including 52 letters from King Ludwig I of Bavaria) and parts of the estate of his son Ludovico. 232 letters from Metzger to Johann Georg von Dillis are in the archives of the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich. Letters to Ludwig I of Bavaria are in the Secret House Archives in Munich and 28 letters to Karl von Baden are in the Freiburg City Archives.
Trivia
- The Italian botanist Giuseppe Raddi (1770–1829) named the genus Metzgeria liverwort from “my friendship with the excellent engraver and restorer of old pictures, Mr. Giovanni Metzger from Staufen im Breisgau, pupil of the famous Mr. Raphael Morghen”.
- In 2006 and 2009 the (imaginative) story of Johann Metzger was presented on a stage at the annual Staufen time travel “STAdtGESchichten”.
literature
- Friedrich Hefele: Johann Baptist Metzger von Staufen, 1771–1844, engraver and art dealer in Florence , magazine of the Breisgau history association Schau-ins-Land, 102nd annual issue 1983, pp. 137–154 online
- Karoline Danz: Florence is the Schazkammer [sic!] Of classical paintings , 2003 online , pages 45–58
- Corina Meyer: […] because I promised good paintings, I delivered good ones, but, but […], A momentous dispute about the acquisition of a Filippino Lippi in the Städelsche Kunstinstitut around 1820 , RIHA Journal 0057, 2012 online , 6.
- Rudolf Hiller von Gaertringen : Giovanni Metzger, the tailor Fantechi and Napoleon. On the acquisition history of the S. Gaggio tablets by Lorenzo di Credi in the Uffizi . In: Opere e giorni. Studi su mille anni di arte europea dedicati a Max Seidel, ed. by Klaus Bergdolt u. Giorgio Bonsanti, Venice 2001, pp. 695-700.
- Alexander Auf der Heyde: Carl Friedrich von Rumohr e il discorso sul restauro nella Germania d'inizio Ottocento . In: La cultura del restauro , Rome 2013, ISBN 978-88-98229-17-8 , pp. 73-84 online (details on Metzger's restoration work)
Individual evidence
- ↑ so Hefele, p. 137, and Danz, p. 45, with reference to the baptismal register entry “Joan Babt. Metzger ”in the Archbishop's Archives Freiburg; Thieme-Becker and often the literature falsely give the date of birth 1772
- ↑ Hefele, p. 152, with reference to a communication from the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz; Information from the Archivo di Stato di Firenze
- ↑ a b Hefele, p. 137
- ↑ Hefele, p. 137, Meyer, 6th note 10
- ↑ Meyer, 6th note 10
- ^ Hefele, p. 139
- ^ Hefele, p. 143
- ↑ Hefele, p. 138 f, Danz, p. 48
- ↑ Danz, p. 48
- ↑ Hefele, p. 146
- ↑ Danz, pp. 48-53
- ↑ Danz, p. 54
- ↑ Hefele, p. 149
- ^ Edwin Fecker: Marie Ellenrieder - The written estate online
- ↑ Hefele, p. 149
- ↑ Information from the daughter's descendants from September 22, 2016.
- ↑ a b The Federal Archives, central database of bequests: Metzger, Johann online
- ↑ Danz, p. 53, note 100
- ↑ Danz, p. 53
- ↑ The Federal Archives, Central Database of Legacies: Metzger, Lodovico online
- ↑ Search report online
- ↑ a b Hefele, p. 153
- ↑ Hefele, p. 149
- ↑ Meyer, 1.
- ↑ Danz, p. 9 f
- ↑ Meyer, 6th note 109 f
- ^ Danz, p. 56
- ↑ On this Meyer about the efforts that dragged on for six years to convey only one picture and to take back two of them
- ↑ On this Danz in all details based on the correspondence between Metzger and Dillis
- ↑ On this the work by Danz
- ^ Danz, p. 47
- ^ Giuseppe Raddi: Jungermanniografia etrusca , p. 46. In: Memorie di matematica e di fisica della Società italiana delle Science, 1820. online
- ↑ Badische Zeitung, September 11, 2009 online
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Metzger, Johann Baptist |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Butcher, Giovanni Battista |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German engraver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 1, 1771 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Staufen im Breisgau |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 10, 1844 |
| Place of death | Florence |