Johann Liss or Jan Lys ( or 1597 – 1629 or 1630) was a leading

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Baroque painter of the 17th century, active mainly in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

Biography

Liss was born in

Oldenburg (Holstein) Oldenburg in Holstein () is a town at the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea. The nearest city is Lübeck. The town belongs to the (historical) region of Holstein, today in the state Schleswig-Holstein of Germany. Oldenburg was the chief tow ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

, Germany. After an initial education in his home state, he continued his studies, according to Houbraken, with

Hendrick Goltzius Hendrick Goltzius, or Hendrik, (; ; January or February 1558 – 1 January 1617) was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter. He was the leading Dutch engraver of the early Baroque period, or Northern Mannerism, lauded for his s ...

in Haarlem and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. Around 1620 he travelled through Paris to Venice. He moved to Rome around 1620–1622, and his first works there were influenced by the style of Caravaggio. Although his earlier work was concerned with the contrasts of light and shadow, his final move to Venice in the early 1620s modified his style and gave impetus to brilliant color and a spirited treatment of the painted surface. In 1627, he painted an admired large altarpiece, the ''Inspiration of Saint Jerome'' in San Nicolò da Tolentino. His loose brushstrokes seem precursor to

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, ...

styles of the

Guardi Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of ...

brothers. This final style, along with that of other "foreign" painters residing in Venice,

Domenico Fetti Domenico Fetti (also spelled Feti) (c. 1589 – 1623) was an Italian Baroque painter who had been active mainly in Rome, Mantua and Venice. Biography Born in Rome to a little-known painter, Pietro Fetti, Domenico is said to have apprenticed ...

and

Bernardo Strozzi Bernardo Strozzi, named il Cappuccino and il Prete Genovese (c. 1581 – 2 August 1644) was an Italian Baroque painter and engraver. A canvas and fresco artist, his wide subject range included history, allegorical, genre and portrait paintin ...

, represent the first inroads of Baroque style into the republic. Liss fled to

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

to escape the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

spreading in Venice, but succumbed there prematurely in 1629. According to Houbraken, he worked day and night on his paintings, so that

Joachim von Sandrart Joachim von Sandrart (12 May 1606 – 14 October 1688) was a German Baroque art-historian and painter, active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. He is most significant for his collection of biographies of Dutch and German artists the '' T ...

felt that his health was at risk and urged him to join him in Rome. His legacy is as a painter of both sensuous mythological and pious biblical subjects, a master of colors and Baroque painting. He was most influential to Venetian 18th-century painters like Sebastiano Ricci, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Giovanni Piazzetta. Joachim von Sandrart wrote in 1675 that "because he fared well in Venice, he soon returned there ... he died along with many others during the plague that began in 1629."

Nazi looting and restitution

In 1939, the Liss drawing entitled "Allegory of Christian Faith" was one of 750 Old Master drawings seized from the home of Arthur Feldmann and his wife by the Nazis. The Cleveland Museum of Art, which acquired the drawing from the art dealer Herbert Bier in 1953, reached a settlement with the Feldmann heirs in 2013. The Feldmanns, a Jewish couple, were murdered in the Holocaust.

Examples of work

*''Lute Player'' *''Visitation of St Jerome'' *''

Vision of Saint Jerome The ''Vision of Saint Jerome'' is a painting by the Italian Mannerist artist Parmigianino, executed in 1526–1527. It is now in the National Gallery, London, United Kingdom. History The work was commissioned on 3 January 1526 in Rome, by Maria ...

'' *''Peasants playing mora'' *
Judith in the Tent of Holofernes
' (c.1622, National Gallery, London) *''

Death of Cleopatra The death of Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, occurred on either 10 or 12 August, 30 BC, in Alexandria, when she was 39 years old. According to popular belief, Cleopatra killed herself by allowing an asp (Egyptian ...

'' *'' Abel mourned by his parents'' *'' Venus in front of mirror'' (1625–26, Uffizi) *'' Death of Phaeton'' *''Cupid'' (Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, Ohio)

Biography

Nazi looting and restitution

Examples of work

References

Further reading