Cosmas Damian Asam (29 September 1686 – 10 May 1739) was a German

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

during the late

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

period. Born in

Benediktbeuern Benediktbeuern (Central Bavarian: ''Benediktbeiern'') is a municipality in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, Germany, 2 kilometers, or 1.25 miles from Bichl. The village has 3,602 residents as of 31 December 2019. The medieval ...

, he lived in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

from 1711 to 1713 to study at the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

with

Carlo Maratta Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition ...

. In 1713, Asam won the Academy's first prize for his drawing of ''Miracle of Saint Pio''. In Germany, he worked with his brother Egid Quirin, a sculptor and stucco worker, on building and decorating entirely new churches (such as the Asam Church in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) or redesigning churches in the Baroque style (

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

— Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Emmeram). Their joint projects are often attributed to the "

Asam Brothers The Asam brothers (Cosmas Damian Asam and Egid Quirin Asam) were sculptors, workers in stucco, painters, and architects, who worked mostly together and in southern Germany. They are among the most important representatives of the German late B ...

". Cosmas Damian died in

Major works

The Asam Brothers, singularly and together, were very prolific artists. They typically worked for Benedictine monasteries, though they occasionally took secular commissions. Cosmas Damian's altar depicting The Vision of St. Benedict in Weltenburg— Monastery Church of St. George and St. Martin is thought to be the first realistic depiction of a solar eclipse in Western art history. Some of the major works of Cosmas Damian are the following.

Bavaria

Aldersbach Aldersbach ( bar, label=Central Bavarian, Oidaschbo) is a municipality in the district of Passau in Bavaria in Germany. The former Cistercian Aldersbach Abbey, of which the Baroque church remains, is located in the village. There is also a brewe ...

— Monastery Church of Mariae Himmelfahrt (

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es of the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

, Nativity, Passion,

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

, Ascension, the Four Evangelists, and the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

) *

Amberg Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town. History The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under t ...

—Pilgrimage Church of Maria-Hilf (ceiling frescoes of Amberg pilgrimage) (1718) *

— Church of St. Benedikt (Antonius Funda altar) *

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Is ...

—Dom St. Maria and St. Korbinian (

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

paintings and stucco) (1723–1724) *

Freystadt :''"Freystadt" is also the German names for Kisielice and Kożuchów, Poland.'' Freystadt (; Northern Bavarian: ''Freystod'') is a town in the district of Neumarkt in Bavaria. It is situated near the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, 14 km southwe ...

—Pilgrimage Church of Maria-Hilf (frescoes) * Friedberg—Pilgrimage Church of the Peace of the Lord (painting in the chancel) (1738) *

Fürstenfeldbruck Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, located 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it has a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s, Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base. Th ...

— Monastery Church of the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin (vault painting) *

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...

—Asam Church of Maria Viktoria (frescos, possibly architect) *

Metten Metten is a municipality in the district of Deggendorf in Bavaria in Germany. The town grew up around the Benedictine Metten Abbey, founded in 766. Metten is also the birthplace of former Bayern Munich goalkeeper Sepp Maier Sepp may refer to: ...

— Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Michael (high altar painting of ''Lucifer Destroyed by St. Michael'') * Sloderdjik Church of Christ ltar paintings of the Ascension*

—Franciscan Monastery Church of St. Anna im Lehel (ceiling paintings, restored in 1971–1972 after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

damage, and altars) *

— Catholic Church of St. Johann Nepomuk (Asam Church) (built and decorated entirely by the Asam Brothers) (1733–1746) *

— Dreifaltigkeitskirche (dome fresco of the ''Adoration of the Trinity'') *

Osterhofen Abbey Osterhofen Abbey (german: Kloster Osterhofen, also called Altenmarkt Convent german: Altenmarkt- Damenstift) is a former monastery in Bavaria, Germany, It is located in the Altenmarkt section of Osterhofen, a town to the south of the Danube betwe ...

—Papal Basilica of St. Margaretha (frescoes) *

— Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Emmeram (frescoed walls and ceilings) * Schleissheim—

Neues Schloss The New Palace (german: Neues Schloss) is an 18th-century Baroque palace in Stuttgart and is one of the last large city palaces built in Southern Germany. The palace is located in the on the Schlossplatz in front of the Jubiläumssäule colum ...

(New Castle) (vault fresco) *

Straubing Straubing () is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held. The city is located on the Danube form ...

—Urselinenkirche (interior paintings) * Weltenburg— Monastery Church of St. George and St. Martin (architect and paintings, with his brother Egid Quirin portrayed as an angel in one of the frescoes, high altar, side altars) (1716–1724)

Baden-Württemberg

Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, ...

—Schloss church decoration (1730) (now destroyed) *

Ettlingen Ettlingen (; South Franconian: ''Eddlinge'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about south of the city of Karlsruhe and approximately from the border with Lauterbourg, in France's Bas-Rhin department. Ettlingen is the second largest tow ...

—Schloss chapel (design and ceiling paintings) in Ettlingen Palace *

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

—Schloss (architectural design and ceiling paintings, now restored after World War II damage) *

Meßkirch Meßkirch (; Swabian: ''Mässkirch'') is a town in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The town was the residence of the counts of Zimmern, widely known through Count Froben Christoph's '' Zimmern Chronicle'' (1559– ...

—Johann Nepomuk Chapel in Basilica St. Martin (decorations) (1733–1734) * Weingarten— Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Martin of Tours and St. Oswald (frescoes)

Austria

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

—Dom zu St. Jakob (Innsbruck Cathedral) (ceiling frescoes on the life of St. James) (1722–1723) *

—Landtagssaal (State Parliament Hall) in the Alte Landhaus (ceiling and wall frescoes) (1725–1728)

Poland

Wahlstatt Legnickie Pole (in 1945–1948 ''Dobre Pole'', german: Wahlstatt) is a village in Legnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district ( gmina) called Gmina Legnickie Pole. It lies ...

—

Legnickie Pole Legnickie Pole (in 1945–1948 ''Dobre Pole'', german: Wahlstatt) is a village in Legnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Legnickie Pole. It lies app ...

(Wahlstatt, Lower Silesia) (The Finding of the True Cross, ceiling fresco) (1733)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asam, Cosmas Damian 1686 births 1739 deaths 17th-century German painters German male painters 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists 17th-century German architects German Baroque painters Pupils of Carlo Maratta 18th-century German architects