Johann Conrad Bechtold

Signature of the painter on the church ceiling of St. John the Baptist, Mönchberg

“Bechtold House” in Aschaffenburg, with the artist's stucco facade

Johann Conrad Bechtold , often also Jakob Conrad Bechtold or Johann Jakob Conrad Bechtold (born July 25, 1698 in Aschaffenburg , † June 4, 1786 ibid) was a German church painter and plasterer of the Baroque era in Lower Franconia .

Live and act

He was born as the son of Büttner Nikolaus Bechtold and his wife Katharina geb. Löchler born. At the age of 25 he married the cooper's daughter Anna Margaretha Löchler, probably from the relatives of his mother, with whom he had eleven children. The family lived in the preserved "Bechtold House" , Aschaffenburg, Strickergasse 11, whose stucco facade he also made.

Johann Conrad Bechtold worked as a church painter in Lower Franconia. He worked in fresco style , but also in oil for altar leaves, etc. His activity from 1726 onwards is documented by an oil painting in the Fechenbach rectory. Commissions for Pflochsbach (1728), Wörth am Main (1730), Seligenstadt (1731), Großostheim (1733 or 1738), Mönchberg (1750), Trennfurt (1754), Kleinwallstadt (1754), Wintersbach (1755), Niedernberg ( 1759), Elsenfeld (1767), Aschaffenburg (1768 Jesuit Church , 1770 Mother of God Parish Church and 1777 St. Agatha ), Großostheim (1771) and Mömlingen (1774).

His main works are the ceiling frescoes in the church of St. John the Baptist in Mönchberg, the ceiling painting in the parish church of St. Peter and Paul Großostheim , the frescoes in the library of the prelature house of Seligenstadt Monastery and the ceiling painting (choir and nave) destroyed in the Second World War . of the Mother of God Parish Church in Aschaffenburg . Bechtold also carried out stucco work in the Seligenstadt monastery .

The local pastor Johann Philipp Janson (1707–1758) gave him the order in Mönchberg , which is why he immortalized it in a fresco above the choir arch of the church in gratitude. You can find his portrait there on a painted vase, the handles of which are shaped like the letters "PJ" (Philipp Janson). Johann Conrad Bechtold also left his signature held by a putto on the ceiling of the church in Mönchberg in 1750 . It is "JC Bechtold" .

The artist died in Aschaffenburg in 1786 and was buried in the cemetery at St. Agatha Church .

literature

• Eduard Schmitt: Mönchberger church history. Mönchberg 2001, Caruna Druck, Kleinheubach, pp. 57-60

Web links

• Website of the Mönchberg parish on Johann Conrad Bechtold
• Website of the city of Aschaffenburg on Johann Conrad Bechtold

gallery

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  So-called sorrow picture , St. Nikolaus Church, Wörth am Main, 1730

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  Ceiling frescoes in the Church of St. John the Baptist, Mönchberg, 1750

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  Ceiling frescoes in the Church of St. John the Baptist, Mönchberg, 1750

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  Portrait fresco by Pastor Johann Philipp Janson, Mönchberg Church

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  High altar painting Mönchberg Church, 1750

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  Ceiling painting, Church of St. Peter and Paul, Großostheim, 1771

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Website with photos of the frescoes in the Seligenstadt Prelature House
2. ↑ Photo of the library ( Memento of the original from November 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Website on Pastor Janson's presentation in the Mönchberg Church ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.