Joseph Wagner (copperplate engraver)

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Joseph Wagner (* 1706 in Thalendorf on Lake Constance, † 1780 in Venice ) was a German engraver .

He is particularly known for portraits of contemporaries, which he wrote based on models by well-known artists, including his teacher Jacopo Amigoni . There are also engravings from original paintings with religious and allegorical motifs as well as mythological depictions, landscapes with animals and architectural prospects .

Life

Training with Jacopo Amigoni

Wagner went to Munich at the age of 1720, at the age of 14, and trained as a painter with the later highly paid portrait and history painter Jacopo Amigoni , who had been in the service of the Bavarian Elector Max II Emanuel since 1715 . At the same time, he was trained in the principles of copper engraving by Franz Xaver Joseph Späth . Together with his teacher Amigoni, Wagner went to Italy in 1726 and perfected his studies at the art academy in Bologna.

London 1730–1739: Wagner and Amigoni & Farinelli

Copper engraving by Joseph Wagner of a painting of the castrato singer Farinelli, as a singer crowned by the muses - based on a model by Jacopo Amigoni
The basis of the above Engraving made this painting Amigonis.
Joseph Wagner - Oval Farinelli portrait, after Amigoni

Like Amigoni, Wagner went to London in 1730. Apparently Amigoni had lively contact with the castrato singer Carlo Brosch, called Farinelli , who had learned from the Neapolitan composer and singing teacher Nicola Porpora, who then worked in Venice, and who had been hired by him to London. In London, Farinelli, although he was only supposed to stay in the English capital from 1734 to 1735, became the star of the opera stage and not only the best-paid singer of his time, but also the darling of the nobles, who were keen to give him rich presents . It is rumored that Porpora and Amigoni, using Farinelli as a draft horse, also got lucrative and very well paid jobs through him. Wagner probably also benefited from this, because he made engravings on the basis of various Farinelli paintings that Amigoni had produced, and these can be found in numerous museums and private collections.

Maintaining this tradition, there are copper engravings of various paintings by Jacopo Amigoni (see below in the catalog raisonné).

In the meantime Wagner went to Paris to perfect his artistry with the engraver Laurent Cars, but soon returned to London and continued to work at or for Amigoni until he moved to Venice in 1739.

Venice: the Wagner school of copper engravers

When Amigoni returned to Venice in 1739, Wagner went with him and opened his own art shop with its own publishing house and a training center for engravers. Some well-known artists such as Giovanni Volpato and Francesco Bartolozzi emerged from this. Hyacinth Holland writes:

“The former works of these soon-to-be-famous artists were published by Wagner's Verlag and, according to the bad custom of the time, which unfortunately continued for a long time, also under his name, so that it is almost impossible to determine the respective engraver. The best papers of his students, including F. Berardi, Flipart, F. Brünet, A. Capellan, Jampicoli, etc., were published by W. with his company; there was also a lot of factory goods, although W. skillfully closed the radar needle and the burin knew how to handle, worked in a broad and pleasing manner, even tried to indicate the color intelligently, whereby its diamond-shaped grain got great strength. "

Appreciation

Johann Rudolf Füssli in the General Artist Lexicon from 1779 pays tribute to Wagner as follows:

“His manner of carrying out histories with a needle and a grave is one of the most intelligent, purest and most pleasant. He is one of those men who Germany in the XVIII. Century with her, on a very high table (sic!) Of perfection brought so much honor. "

72 years later, in 1851, the New General Artist Lexicon by Georg Kaspar Nagler sums up :

“After a while he went back to England and stayed there for almost five years in Amiconi's house until he went to Venice in 1739, where Wagner found happiness. He founded an art shop and connected it with a copper engraving school, from which well-known students emerged, but who subsequently far surpassed the master, especially Volpato and Bartolozzi ... Many of these Wagnerian publishing articles are also insignificant, actually factory goods. But he himself had a reputation as an artist, because he knew how to use the needle and the burin well. He worked in a pleasing and broad manner, in the manner of Jakob Frey. He also indicated the color intelligently, whereby his diamond-shaped grain got great strength. The Wagnerian engravings were once seen as decorations in the rooms of elegant houses, but that time is long gone. "

Works (selection)

Joseph Wagner - St. Lucas
Joseph Wagner - St. Thomas
Joseph Wagner - The Transfiguration of Christ on the Tabor, after Ludovio Carracci's painting in S. Pietro in Bologna
Joseph Wagner - Rebecca and Elieser at the fountain, after Luca Giordano's picture in the Dresden Gallery of the Old Masters
Joseph Wagner - Jacob and Rahel at the fountain, after Luca Giordano's picture in the Dresden Gallery of the Old Masters
Joseph Wagner - The Alchemist

Portraits

  • Petrus Magnus Russorum Imperator. To the side of Minerva, whole figure. After Jacopo Amigoni
  • Anna Prima Russorum Imperatrix, whole figure in rich custom. After Jacopo Amigoni
  • Elisabeth Petrovna, Empress of Russia, half figure in clouds. After Jacopo Amigoni
  • Antiochus Princeps de Cautemir, Russian envoy in London. After Jacopo Amigoni
  • Carolin Cignani Bononicus - act 58. After ID Feretti.
  • Andrea Commodi Pittore. After Andrea Commodi for the series de 'ritratti
  • Rosalba Carriera. Effigies manu ipsius pieta
  • Carlo Broschi, detto Farinelli, crowned by the goddess of harmony. After Jacopo Amigoni, gr. Fol.
  • Paolo Rolli Tubertino, after Amiconi

Religious motifs

  • Cain fleeing from the Lord after fratricide, according to B. Lutti
  • Rebecca and Elieser at the fountain, after Luca Giordano's picture in the Dresden Gallery of the Old Masters
  • Jacob and Rahel, after Giordano's painting in the same gallery, gr. Qu. fol.
  • Loth and his daughters, after J. Zocchi, gr. Fol.
  • The handkerchief surrounded by four angels, according to Amigoni
  • The Transfiguration of Christ on the Tabor, based on Ludovio Carracci's painting in St. Peter's Church in Bologna
  • The awakening of Lazarus
  • St. Virgin with the child and little John on the throne, below three saints, after Paul Veronese's picture in the church of San Zaccharia in Venice
  • Jesus and John playing with the lamb in a landscape, according to AD Gabbiani
  • Christ blessing the bread, according to Gabbiani
  • Magdalena anoints the Savior's feet, after B. Lutti
  • The Assumption of Mary, after Agostino Carracci’s picture in the Church of San Salvator in Bologna
  • The Assumption of Mary, after GB Tiepolo
  • The Assumption of Mary, based on Piazetta's painting in a church in Frankfurt am Main
  • The birth of John the Baptist, after L. Carracci
  • St. Veronica, half figure after S. Vouet
  • St. Dominicus has the Albingensian books burned, according to L. Spada's painting in Bologna
  • St. Dominicus raises a child, according to A. Tiarini, in the Church of the Saint in Bologna

Mythological motifs

  • The dying fencer, after the ancient world, engraved for Boydell 1744.
  • Mercury tries to put Argus to sleep, according to J. Jordaeus.
  • Hercules and Omphale. after F. Magiotto
  • Diana surprised in the bath of Actaeon, according to Antonio Bellucci
  • V'in Bacchanale. Silenus is sitting on the left, and the faun is driving little Bacchus on the cart. Do G. Lazarini
  • Hercules at the entrance to the Hesperidic Gardens, after A. Marchesini
  • Ariadnc and Bacchus, after Jacopo Amigoni
  • Venus and Adonis, after Jacopo Amigoni
  • Venus and Cupid on the bed, after Jacopo Amigoni

student

The general artist lexicon by Johann Rudolf Füssli mentions as a student of Joseph Wagner:

literature

  • Pierre-François Basan: Dictionnaire des graveurs anciens et modern depuis l'origine de la gravure . Volume 2, Lormel u. a., Paris 1767, pp. 552-553 ( digitized version ).
  • Johann Rudolf Fuessli: General Artist Lexicon , or: Brief message about the life and works of the Mahler, sculptor, master builder, engraver, art caster, steel cutter, [et] c. [Etc. Along with attached lists of teachers and students; also of the portraits of the artists contained in this lexicon . Orell, Geßner, Füeßlin and Compagnie, Zurich 1779, p. 703 ( digitized version ).
  • Georg Kaspar Nagler: New General Artist Lexicon or news of the life and works of painters, sculptors, builders, engravers, form cutters, lithographers, draftsmen, medalists, ivory workers, etc. Volume 21, Verlag EA Fleischmann, Munich 1851, p. 69 -72 ( digitized version ).
  • Hyacinth Holland :  Wagner, Joseph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, p. 521 f.
  • Wagner, Joseph . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 35 : Libra-Wilhelmson . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1942, p. 40 .
  • Chiara Lo Giudice: Joseph Wagner maestro dell'incisione nella Venezia del Settecento. Cierre Edizioni, Sommacampagna (VR) 2018, ISBN 978-88-8314-970-2 (with catalog raisonné).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Hyacinth Holland:  Wagner, Joseph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, p. 521 f.
  2. ↑ In the Baroque era, singing teachers often benefited from the success of their successful students long after they had finished their training. Since most of the singing students who were to be trained to be castrati came from poor families, they could not pay for their training and therefore had to undertake to pay the training fees if they were successful. So they often performed in the last years of their training and often for a few years afterwards, received a fee for it, but had to cede a large part of it to their singing teacher. Farinelli had learned from Porpora and the latter called him to London in 1734 so that he could become the singing star of the so-called aristocratic opera , which had set itself the goal of competing with the Royal Academy of Music , where Georg Friedrich Handel was employed.
  3. ↑ (author unknown): Farinelli. The Westminster Magazine: or, The Pantheon of Taste , vol. 5 (1777), pp. 396-397
  4. ↑ Johann Rudolf Füssli: General Artist Lexicon, or, Brief Message from the Life and Works of Mahler, Sculptor, Master Builder, Engraver, Art Foundry, Steel Cutter, etc. a. In addition to the attached lists of teachers and students, including the portraits of the artists contained in this lexicon . Orell, Gessner & Füesslin, Zurich 1779, p. 703 .
  5. ^ A b Georg Kaspar Nagler: New General Artist Lexicon or News of the Life and Works of Painters, Sculptors, Builders, Engravers, Form Cutters, Lithographers, Draftsmen, Medalists, Ivory Workers, etc. Volume 21, Verlag EA Fleischmann, Munich 1851, Pp. 69–72 ( digitized version ).
  6. ↑ Johann Rudolf Füssli: General Artist Lexicon, or, Brief Message from the Life and Works of Mahler, Sculptor, Master Builder, Engraver, Art Foundry, Steel Cutter, etc. a. In addition to the attached lists of teachers and students, including the portraits of the artists contained in this lexicon . Orell, Gessner & Füesslin, Zurich 1779, p. 809 .
personal data
SURNAME Wagner, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German engraver
DATE OF BIRTH 1706
PLACE OF BIRTH Thalendorf on Lake Constance
DATE OF DEATH 1780
Place of death Venice