Johann Ulrich Loth

Altarpiece, Holy Spirit Munich, 1649

Johann Ulrich Loth (* before 1599 in Munich ; † 1662 ibid) was an early baroque painter whose work can be proven in Upper Bavaria , mainly Munich. The honor by the city of Munich took place in 1887 by assigning a street name in Maxvorstadt ( Lothstraße ).

life and work

Ulrich Loth was probably born in Munich before 1599, his father was a glass painter. He completed his training at the Munich court from 1615 under the court painter Peter Candid , who provided him with the necessary contacts for his future career. The talented pupil was granted a scholarship from Duke Maximilian I , who sent him on a study trip to Italy from 1619 to 1623. There he stayed primarily in Rome. Back in Bavaria, in 1624 he married the daughter of the painter Hans Krumpper , Libia, from whose marriage the sons Johann Carl Loth (1632–1698), later the famous 'Carlotto' , and Franz Loth (1639–1710) emerged. In 1629 Johann Ulrich Loth asked for exemption from court service, but it was not until 1644 that the painters' guild included him in their books as a free master. But now his creative power quickly waned. From the late 1640s onwards, he hardly ever picked up a brush.

When he returned to the Munich court, Loth processed the impressions he had gathered in Italy. In the following decades he repeatedly used the motif and figure compositions seen there ( The appointment of Peter and Andreas to the apostleship , Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen , Munich; The Adoration of the Magi , Cathedral of Our Lady , Munich). However, Loth renounced the relentless and emotional staging of a Caravaggio . For the Munich resident, the implementation of the imagery required by the Catholic theologians was in the foreground. To realistically reproduce this imagery, he used the contrasting chiaroscuro painting by the Italian. Like the latter, he arranged his scenes in front of an undefined and indirectly illuminated background. By adding an additional light source, the contrasts were softened ( Matthew with the Angel , Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich; The penitent Magdalena , Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich). Loth's color palette is dominated by those warm earth tones that were used primarily by the Utrecht Caravaggists who were working in Rome at the same time .

The Baroque imagery of Peter Paul Rubens is also reflected in Loth's oeuvre . His knowledge of Rubens' oeuvre is primarily based on reproduction graphics. The recourse to Rubens takes place mostly on the level of the composition and not with regard to the painting style ( The Last Supper , in the Catholic parish church St. Peter in Munich; The pouring out of the Holy Spirit , Catholic parish church Hl. Spirit , Munich). The only exception is the apocalyptic woman in the Catholic. Parish church of St. Zeno in Isen, an altar painting that, at the request of the client, is based very closely on the Rubensche original.

Loth's oeuvre offers a wide range of Caravaggesque half-length pictures, monumental altar paintings in the most prominent Munich churches, large-format historical scenes to decorate the state rooms of the Alt-Schleissheim Palace as well as private devotional pictures. From a historical point of view, his painting is to be seen as an artistic expression of the counter-Reformation efforts of the Bavarian Elector Maximilian I.

Selection of his works

The Adoration of the Magi , Frauenkirche Munich, 1628

• St. Franz Xaver , 1624, St. Michael (Munich)
• The appointment of Peter and Andreas to the apostleship , around 1620-25, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
• Matthew with the Angel , around 1620–25, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen , Munich
• St. Hieronymus with the Angel of Trumpets, around 1625–1635, St. Anton Capuchin Monastery , Munich
• The Adoration of the Magi , 1628, Frauenkirche (Munich)
• The Death of Mary , 1629, Cathedral of St. Maria and St. Korbinian , Freising
• The atoning Magdalena , 1630, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
• The hll. Rupert and Maximilian , 1631, Saline Chapel St. Rupert and Maximilian, Traunstein
• St. Georg and Margaretha , 1632, Cathedral of Our Lady, Munich
• The Holy Family of the founder Johann von Werth , 1633, cath. Parish Church of Mariä Candlemas, Lindkirchen
• Pallas, 1636 , Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
• Esau sent before 1637, Museé des Beaux-Arts , Nancy
• Blessing of Jacob , before 1637, Landesmuseum Mainz
• Esau's return , before 1637, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
• The incredulous Thomas , around 1630–1640, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
• The Holy Family in the workshop , around 1630–1640, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
• The Return from Egypt , around 1630–50, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
• The Assumption of Mary , 1642, cath. City parish church of the Assumption of Mary , Weilheim
• The last supper , 1644, cath. Parish Church of St. Peter, Munich
• The penitent Peter , 1646, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
• The outpouring of the Holy Spirit , 1649, cath. Parish Church of the Holy Spirit, Munich
• The Assumption of Mary into Heaven , 1649–1650, Cath. City parish church St. Jakob , Wasserburg am Inn
• The Apocalyptic Woman , 1652, cath. Parish Church of St. Zeno, Isen

exhibition

Ulrich Loth: Between Caravaggio and Rubens, May 8th - September 7th, 2008, Alte Pinakothek Munich

literature

• Ulrich Loth: Between Caravaggio and Rubens , Ostfildern 2008, exhibition catalog for the exhibition of the same name in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, edited by Reinhold Baumstark, ISBN 978-3-7757-2149-3 .
• Hermann Nasse: The painter Johann Ulrich Loth , in: Journal of the Historical Association for Swabia and Neuburg 47 (1927), pp. 208-216.
• Marlinde Kohrs: Caravaggio's successor in Germany [monograph, university thesis ] , Freiburg im Breisgau 1956.
• Claudia Schumann:  Loth, Johann (Hans) Ulrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , pp. 205 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Johann Ulrich Loth  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Johann Ulrich Loth in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hans Dollinger: The Munich street names . 3rd edition 1997. Südwest Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Munich, ISBN 3-517-01986-0 , pp. 182 .