Johann Joseph Christian (12 February 1706 – 22 June 1777) was a German Baroque

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

woodcarver Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

. His masterworks are considered to be the

choir stalls A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tab ...

Zwiefalten Abbey Zwiefalten Abbey (german: Kloster Zwiefalten, Abtei Zwiefalten or after 1750, ) is a former Benedictine monastery situated at Zwiefalten near Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. History The monastery was founded in 1089 at the time of ...

and

Ottobeuren Abbey Ottobeuren is a Benedictine abbey, located in Ottobeuren, near Memmingen in the Bavarian Allgäu, Germany. For part of its history Ottobeuren Abbey was one of the 40-odd self-ruling imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire and, as such, was a v ...

. Christian was born in

Riedlingen Riedlingen () is a town in the district (''Kreis'') of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, in the south-west of Germany. It is one of the destinations of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. Riedlingen has approximately 10,000 inhabitants. Geography ...

, in

Further Austria Further Austria, Outer Austria or Anterior Austria (german: Vorderösterreich, formerly ''die Vorlande'' (pl.)) was the collective name for the early (and later) possessions of the House of Habsburg in the former Swabian stem duchy of south-wes ...

(present-day

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

). His rare double gift as a woodworker and stucco sculptor was equalled only by

Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer (6 March 1696 (baptized) – 2 January 1770) was an important Rococo stuccoist and sculptor, active in southern Germany and Switzerland. J. A. Feuchtmayer was born in Linz, a member of the famous Feuchtmayer family ...

. In 1744 Christian received a commission to work in Zwiefalten Abbey, where until 1755 he created the

and numerous stucco figures for the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

and

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and side chapels, working alongside the painter

Franz Joseph Spiegler Franz Joseph Spiegler (5 April 1691 – 15 April 1757) was a German Baroque painter. He is best known for his frescoes, which decorate many of the churches and monasteries along the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. The frescoes in the Zwiefalten ...

and the stucco master

Johann Michael Feuchtmayer Johann Michael Feuchtmayer (the Younger) (sometimes spelled Johann Michael Feuchtmayr or Feichtmayr) (1709 – June 4, 1772) was a German stuccoworker and sculptor of the late Baroque period. He collaborated with the architects Johann Michael Fis ...

and under the direction of the architect

Johann Michael Fischer Johann Michael Fischer (18 February 1692 – 6 May 1766) was a German architect in the late Baroque period. Fischer was born in Burglengenfeld, Upper Palatinate. He is a major representative of south German Baroque architects. He studied in Bohem ...

. Subsequently, Christian was commissioned to work on the abbatial church of the Holy Trinity in

, for which the architect was once again Fischer and for which Christian created the choir stalls, with gilded reliefs, and the organ reliefs. Once again he worked with Spiegler and J. M. Feuchtmayer. Besides these two major works, he also worked on various smaller projects, including the parish church in Unlingen and the

abbey church A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...

Buchau Bochov (german: Buchau) is a town in Karlovy Vary District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,900 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Číhaná, Dlouhá Lomnice, Herstošice, Hlineč, Javorná, Jesínky, Koz ...

. Christian and his wife had 10 children, of whom five survived infancy. His son Karl Anton Christian (1731–1810) became abbot of St. Trudpert's Abbey near Münstertal in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

, and for this church J. J. Christian created a relief painting using a stucco technique for the high altar that is considered unparalleled.''Germany: A Phaidon Cultural Guide''. Oxford: Phaidon, 1985. p. 648. . Christian died in Riedlingen. Another son, Franz Joseph Christian (1739–1798), became a sculptor and took over his father's workshop in Riedlingen.

Major works

* Münstertal— St. Trudpert's Abbey (high altar) *

Ottobeuren Ottobeuren (Swabian: ''Ottobeire'', Medieval Latin: ''Ottobura'') is a market town and municipality in Bavaria, Germany, located 11 km southeast of Memmingen near the A7. It is famous for Ottobeuren Abbey, situated next to the Basilica. The t ...

—

, church of the Holy Trinity, (choir stalls and organ reliefs) *

Wiblingen Abbey Wiblingen Abbey was a former Benedictine abbey which was later used as barracks. Today its buildings house several departments of the medical faculty of the University of Ulm. The former abbey is located south of the confluence of the rive ...

—church of St. Martin (choir stalls, created along with his son Franz Joseph) *

Zwiefalten Zwiefalten is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany located halfway between Stuttgart and Lake Constance. The former Zwiefalten Abbey dominates the town. The former monastery is considered one of the finest exa ...

—

(choir stalls, high altar, and almost all other sculpture)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Johann Joseph 1706 births 1777 deaths People from Riedlingen 18th-century German sculptors 18th-century German male artists German male sculptors German woodcarvers