Johann Christian Fiedler

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Fiedler's self-portrait from 1752

Johann Christian Fiedler (born October 31, 1697 in Pirna ; † September 5, 1765 or 1768 in Darmstadt ) was a German court painter .

life and work

Fiedler was a son of the married couple Johann and Eva Fiedler. His father was a master malt and brewer, his mother came from the advisable, long-established Pirna family Fritzsche. Johann Christian Fiedler first completed the Latin school in his hometown and from 1715 studied law in Leipzig , but then became more interested in art. In 1717 he began to paint miniatures, which he presented at the Braunschweig trade fair in 1719. When he returned to Leipzig, he first tried his hand at oil painting as an autodidact ; Around 1720 he went to Paris with the support of Duke August Wilhelm von Braunschweig and trained as a painter with Hyacinthe Rigaud and Nicolas de Largillière . He was then to take up an office as court painter in Wolfenbüttel . However, his journey home took him via Darmstadt in 1724, where he made the acquaintance of the local landgrave and received another job offer that was supposed to bring him 400  florins a year.

Ludwig VIII of Hessen-Darmstadt

From 1725 he lived and worked in Darmstadt, where he was court painter under the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt Ernst Ludwig and then under his son and successor Ludwig VIII .

Fiedler belongs to the circle of Frankfurt " Goethe painters". He was friends with Johann Alexander Thiele , whom he portrayed in an oil painting. This picture was shown in the Dresden special exhibition Ideal Pictures - Longing and Reality - Painting of the 18th Century for Dresden in 2009 .

A self-portrait from 1752 shows him painting a portrait of Landgrave Ludwig VIII. This painting was known from written sources for a long time, but has been lost. It has been in the Jagdschloss-Museum Kranichstein since 2008 . It is one of the few pictures that Fiedler signed and dated.

In addition to portraits of high-ranking personalities and numerous self-portraits, Fiedler also painted a burial of Christ , the seasons and several still lifes.

Fiedler, who suffered from stones and gout from the age of 40 , is said to have died of emaciation . He was buried next to the Darmstadt city church. The grave was decorated with a memorial designed by the court sculptor Eckhard. It showed his portrait in a medallion as well as a personified Old Age and a genius with a palette and, in addition to names and dates of life, bore the inscription:

Anyone who knows his greatness must
honor the ashes of my friend and my darling with well-earned toughness ,
He was what few are, the vice, a strict enemy,
an undisguised Christian, a true philanthropist;
In life he was great, in death without trembling.
Whoever lives like Fiedler cannot shake a cross.

The painter Karl Friedrich Hirschberg was a nephew of Fiedler. He was a court painter in Buchsweiler . Fiedler's students included Gottlieb Friedrich Riedel and Johann Valentin Tischbein .

literature

Web links

Commons : Johann Christian Fiedler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Central archive of the Evang. Church Hessen-Nassau, Deanery Darmstadt-Stadt, Darmstadt Lutherans, burial register 1758–1772, p. 1097: the 7th [September 1765] is Mr. Johann Christian Fiedler, His Hochfürstl. Passed through by our most gracious ruling prince, Ober HoffMahler, all here at the corpses sermon with customary Christian prayers, [...] was publicly buried old 67 year 10 month 5 days.
  2. ^ A b c Michael Bryan: Fiedler, Johann Christian . In: Dictionary of painters and engravers, biographical and critical . G. Bell and Sons, London 1886, p. 493 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  3. ^ Carl Seeger: The Grand Ducal Museum in Darmstadt. The Art Gallery. Darmstadt 1843, p. 7 ( books.google.de ).
  4. ↑ a b c Angela Geyer: Johann Christian Fiedler - a court painter from Pirna , on pirna.de.
  5. ↑ a b c Fiedler. In: Morgenblatt for educated stands. 21, 1827, pp. 217-219 ( books.google.de ).
  6. ↑ Neill Jeffares: Dictionary of pastel ISTS Before 1800 ( pastellists.com PDF; 250 KB).
  7. ↑ Press release of the Kulturstiftung der Länder, November 2008: The Museum Jagdschloss Kranichstein in Darmstadt presents a recent acquisition: a self-portrait by Johann Christian Fiedler (1697–1765).
  8. ^ Johann Heinrich Merck : Correspondence. Volume 1. Edited by Ulrike Leuschner, Wallstein, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-8353-0105-4 , p. 360.
  9. ^ Rudolf Vierhaus (ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 8: Poethen – Schlüter. 2nd edition, Saur, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-598-25038-5 , p. 391.
  10. ↑ Literature on Tischbein, Johann Valentin 'in the Hessian Bibliography
personal data
SURNAME Fiedler, Johann Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter
DATE OF BIRTH October 31, 1697
PLACE OF BIRTH Pirna
DATE OF DEATH September 5, 1765
Place of death Darmstadt