Johann Baptist Modler

Johann Baptist Modler (baptized on the thirtieth May 1697 in Hohenfels (Oberpfalz) ; † 11. November 1774 in Kößlarn ) was a German sculptor and plasterer of rococo .

Life

Modler was the fourth and last child of the cloth maker Johann Adam Modler and his wife Regina. He was first trained as a cloth maker by his father and worked as such in Obernberg am Inn with Josef Groll. On November 11, 1729, he married his 19-year-old daughter Maria Theresia Groll. In the marriage book he was already referred to as "Stuckhadorer and draper". Nothing is known about his training as a plasterer. Modler probably learned from Franz Josef Holzinger from Schörfling am Attersee and other masters. The first works assigned to Modler are characterized by bandwork , for example in 1727/1728 in the Rinchnach monastery under Johann Michael Fischer .

From 1736 Modler lived with his family in Kößlarn. Here he had his own important workshop. He mainly worked in the southeastern Bavarian region, especially for the monasteries Fürstenzell , Asbach and Aldersbach . Of his eleven children, his sons Kaspar (1730–1758), Melchior (1732–1768) and Joseph Narziss (1739–1810) also worked in his father's workshop. During his first years in Kößlarn, the region's prosperity fell due to the War of the Austrian Succession , as a result of which artistic construction activities were reduced, interrupted or even stopped entirely. During this time, Modler had to feed eight children with his work. Due to billeting and the looting of Kößlarn by enemy troops, it can be assumed that Modler's family was impoverished. The repeated failure to pay church interest in the years 1742 to 1744 also indicates this fact. Since he could not support the family with his artistic activity alone, his wife also ran a grocery store. For this reason he is often referred to as "Stukhadorer and Kramer".

Modler's son Joseph Narcissus took over the workshop in 1770. Modler died on November 11, 1774 at the age of 77. Modler's richly ornamented house in Kößlarn was destroyed by fire in 1868.

Works

Modler's clients were primarily the monasteries in the south-eastern Bavarian region. Below is a selection of important work:

• 1730–40: Exterior decoration of the monastery buildings of Asbach Abbey
• 1741 ff .: Stuccoing of the monastery church of Fürstenzell monastery (together with Georg Funk)
• around 1745–1750: Stucco ceiling of the castle chapel of Kleeberg Castle near Ruhstorf
• 1746 ff .: Stuccoing of the former prelature of Aldersbach Abbey
• 1748: Pulpit of the monastery church of Fürstenzell monastery
• 1751–1756: Stuccoing of the Dominican Church of the Holy Cross in Regensburg
• around 1757: Stuccoing of the facades of the Wörndlehaus, pharmacy and shipmaster's house in Obernberg am Inn
• 1758: high altar, 1763–1764: side altars and pulpit of the Siebenschläferkirche in Rotthof near Ruhstorf
• 1768: Stuccoing of the staircase of the New Residence in Passau

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  Detail view of Modler's house in Obernberg

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  A side altar of the Siebenschläferkirche Rotthof

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  Stucco figure of Saint Florian around 1750

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  Worndlehaus and pharmacy Obernberg am Inn

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  Modler's dwelling in Obernberg am Inn

literature

• Wolfram Buchner: The stucco worker Johann Baptist Modler von Kösslarn. A master of the German Rococo, a contribution to the history of the development of Rococo ornament in the Ostmark. Dissertation. Passau 1936.
• Edith Schmidmaier-Kathke: Johann Baptist Modler. A Bavarian Rococo artist. Tourismusverband Ostbayern eV, 1997, ISBN 3-928755-25-0 .

Web links

Commons : Johann Baptist Modler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography with pictures