Johann Michael Wittmer

Johann Michael Wittmer: Resting at a Fountain , 1866 (under the arch, self-portrait of Johann Michael Wittmer and portrait of his wife)

Johann Michael Wittmer: Portrait of Joseph Anton Koch , around 1830

Johann Michael Wittmer (born October 15, 1802 in Murnau am Staffelsee , † May 9, 1880 in Munich ) was a German painter from the Wittmer family of painters from Murnau, who belonged to the German Romans . His paternal ancestors are directly descended from the sculptor Joseph Witwer from Imst in Tyrol (the original spelling of the name "Witwer" was then changed to "Wittmer" in Murnau).

Life

He studied until 1828 a. a. with Peter von Cornelius at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and then went to Rome , which was the focus of his life and work until the end of his life. Here he was a member of the board of directors of the Arch Brotherhood of Campo Santo Teutonico alongside Clemens August Alertz , Friedrich Overbeck and others . During one of his trips home, he died in Munich in 1880.

Wittmer was influenced by the work of his father-in-law Joseph Anton Koch . His favorite motifs initially included not only religious but also mythological themes and Dante's “ Divine Comedy ”; from the end of the 1840s he shifted almost entirely to Christian motifs, which he executed in the style of the Nazarenes .

Around 1860 he created the epitaph for the painter August Wilhelm Julius Ahlborn (1796–1857) in the Campo Santo Teutonico cemetery.

Works (selection)

Johann Michael Wittmer: Temple of Zeus in Athens , 1833

Wall painting in the "Turkish Room", Hohenschwangau Castle
Frescoes, Santa Maria dell'Anima Church , Rome
Frescoes, parish church St. Arsatius , Ilmmünster
Frescoes, parish church St. Nikolaus , Murnau
Aesop sits on a column above a spring and tells the people fables , Murnau Castle Museum
Resting at a fountain , 1866, Murnau Castle Museum
Temple of Zeus in Athens , 1833

Publications

Rome. A guide through the Eternal City and the Roman Campagna , 1866 (with Wilhelm Molitor)

literature

Hyacinth Holland : Wittmer, Johann Michael . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, pp. 645-649.
Georg Kaspar Nagler : Wittmer, Johann Michael . In: New general artist lexicon . 1866
Brigitte Salmen: Johann Michael Wittmer (1802-1880). Studies of life and work . Dissertation, University of Passau 2007 ( full text )

Individual evidence

^ Albrecht Weiland: The Campo Santo Teutonico in Rome and its grave monuments. Volume I , Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1988, ISBN 3451208822 , p. 371.

Web links

Commons : Johann Michael Wittmer - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Johann Michael Wittmer in the catalog of the German National Library
Exhibition in Murnau 2006

personal data
SURNAME	Wittmer, Johann Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Wittmer, Johann Michael the Elder J .; Wittmer, Johann Michael II.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German painter
DATE OF BIRTH	October 15, 1802
PLACE OF BIRTH	Murnau am Staffelsee
DATE OF DEATH	May 9, 1880
Place of death	Munich

[1] Albrecht Weiland: The Campo Santo Teutonico in Rome and its grave monuments. Volume I , Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1988, ISBN 3451208822 , p. 371.