Peter Mayer (copper engraver)
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Peter Mayer (born June 30, 1718 (baptism date) in St. Blasien ; † December 16, 1800 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German draftsman , engraver and painter .
Life
family
According to an entry in the baptismal register of the parish of St. Stephan, Peter Mayer was baptized on June 30, 1718 in St. Blasien as the son of the court locksmith Johannes Mayer and his wife Maria, née Würth, with the first name Joannes Petrus. He was the seventh of the couple's eleven children. The family was rooted in the region. The brother Blasius Mayer is evidenced by a signature as a locksmith of the cathedral clock in St. Blasien.
In October 1757, Peter Mayer married the widow Maria Magdalena Josepha Lieb, née Kreutter (1733–1796), in Freiburg, who brought the house to the golden heathen in the local Kaiserstrasse into the marriage. Of the couple's eight children, four survived their father. Peter Mayer's son Johann Baptist Peter Mayer (1758–1836) lived and worked as a miniature portrait painter in Augsburg.
education
Abbot Franz II. Schächtelin made it possible for Peter Mayer to study at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna , where he was entered on October 7, 1738. The academy was inactive from 1742 to 1744. From 1744, Peter Mayer attended the copperplate class of Professor Adolf Müller from Augsburg.
Artistic career
The first independent work by Peter Mayer, signed with the initials PM, is a copper engraving by his patron Franz II. Schächtelin after Jacob Carl Stauder , which was made between 1745 and 1746. From 1747 Peter Mayer worked on the illustrations for Marquard Herrgott's Monumenta Augustae Domus Austriacae , which appeared in four volumes from 1750 to 1772. About a third of the 350 panels in the monumental work are by Peter Mayer.
In a letter dated December 24, 1755, Peter Mayer applied for admission as an academic citizen of the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg . Mayer's first works for Freiburg include the ex-libris of the faculties from 1755 onwards. The theological faculty has been using its ex-libris from 1756 until today. The fortune of his wife made it possible for Peter Mayer to settle permanently as a freelance artist in the Haus zum golden Heiden in Freiburg. In the following years Mayer preferred to work for the university and its professors, for Marquard Herrgott , who moved to Krozingen, and for the abbot of St. Blasien Martin Gerbert .
Four large-format sheets that Peter Mayer engraved on the occasion of Marie-Antoinette 's stay in Freiburg as part of her bridal trip from Vienna to Versailles are of historical importance . They document the celebrations of the city and the university. On the occasion of Joseph II's visit in July 1777 on his return from his trip to France, two portraits of the emperor were created based on drawings by the university sculptor Joseph Hörr .
From 1757 Peter Mayer also appeared as a portrait painter. The narrow, painterly oeuvre, which, according to Rudolf Morath, comprises ten works and one attribution, includes portraits of the imperial family and the abbots Martin Gerbert and Ignaz Speckle, foundation paintings and altar paintings for the churches of Hochdorf (Freiburg im Breisgau) , Betzenhausen and the pilgrimage church of St. Ottilien.
End of life and estate
Peter Mayer died in Freiburg at the age of 82. In his will of February 4, 1798 he left his four surviving children a house and property. A large inventory of 582 copper plates went from the property of the secularized St. Blasien Abbey to the possession of the University of Freiburg, which ran into financial difficulties and sold the plates to the Kupferhammer on October 30, 1820 for 537 guilders 25 Kreuzer.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mayer, Johann. In: Georg Kaspar Nagler : New general artist lexicon . Volume 8, Leipzig 1839, p. 487.
- ^ Rudolf Morath: Peter Mayer. 1983, p. 24.
- ^ Albert Raffelt: Ex Libris of the University of Freiburg and its student courses. At the same time a reminder of the graphic work of Peter Mayer. In: Information. No. 58, 1993, p. 988; Theological Faculty of the University of Freiburg: The Ex Libris of the Theological Faculty ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ^ Rudolf Morath: Peter Mayer. 1983, p. 468.
literature
- Rudolf Morath: Peter Mayer 1718–1800. The University of Freiburg i. Br. Bürger, engraver and painter . (= Freiburg contributions to the history of science and universities. Volume 3). Verlag Karl Alber, Freiburg, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-495-49603-3 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mayer, Peter |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mayer, Joannes Petrus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German draftsman, engraver and painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | baptized June 30, 1718 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Blasien |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 16, 1800 |
| Place of death | Freiburg in Breisgau |