Cobweb image
Cobweb pictures or pieces of cobweb are called paintings that were painted on webs of web moths. This form of painting was especially widespread in Tyrol in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Despite its name, the background for the cobweb pictures is not ordinary cobwebs, but a fine, dense material. The web moths mainly infest bird cherries and cover them with their web. Pieces of it could be cut off from the logs and then placed in a cardboard frame. The painting ground was then prepared with diluted milk.
Spread and artist
The first cobweb pictures were probably made around 1730 in the Puster Valley . A note reporting cobweb images from the 16th century is not verifiable. In addition to Tyrol, some works were made in Salzburg , albeit in smaller numbers . Because of the very sensitive material, only a few specimens have survived.
Most of the images that have survived to date come from Johann Burgmann . Other artists who painted on caterpillar webs included Johann Georg Prunner and Elias Brunner from Tyrol and Johann Wurzer and Bartholomäus Lomminger from Salzburg. Most of the cobweb paintings are watercolors ; Copper engravings and oil paintings are extremely rare.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, cobweb painting was rediscovered by a few artists, such as Wilhelm Wodnansky .
literature
- Ida Köhler: Paintings on cobwebs . In: The Art Wanderer . January 1, 1922, p. 204.
- K. Toldt, H. v. Wieser: About the research on the Tyrolean cobweb images . In: The Sciliar . Bozen 1953, pp. 165-173.
- Ina Cassirer: Paintings on Cobwebs . In: Natural History Magazine . Vol. 65, New York 1956, pp. 202-207 / 219-220
- Eugen von Philippovich: Curiosities / Antiques . Klinkhardt & Biermann, Braunschweig 1966.
Web links
- More cobweb pictures (French)