Martin Knoller (18 November 1725 – 24 July 1804) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

painter active in Italy who is remembered for his fresco work.

Biography

Born in

Steinach am Brenner Steinach am Brenner is a market town in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located south of Innsbruck in the Wipptal at the Sill River. Geography Steinach am Brenner is located in Wipptal, along the Sill River Valley at ...

near the Austrian city of Innsbruck, Knoller studied under

Paul Troger Paul Troger (30 October 1698 – 20 July 1762) was an Austrian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker of the late Baroque period. Troger's illusionistic ceiling paintings in fresco are notable for their dramatic vitality of movement and their pale ...

and

Michelangelo Unterberger Michelangelo Unterberger, also Michael Angelo Unterberger and Michelangelo Unterperger (11 August 1695, Cavalese - 27 June 1758, Vienna) was a South Tyrolean painter in the Baroque style. Life He was the son of a forest warden. His first studi ...

in Salzburg and Vienna. Specializing in frescoes and altarpiece paintings, his first fresco, the Glory of St Stephen, was completed in 1754 at the parish church of Anras in

East Tyrol East Tyrol, occasionally East Tirol (german: Osttirol), is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, separated from the main North Tyrol part by the short common border of Salzburg and Italian South Tyrol (''Südtirol'', it, Alto Adige). It i ...

. In 1755, he arrived in Rome where he was influenced by Neoclassicism, after studying under

Anton Raphael Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (22 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German painter, active in Dresden, Rome, and Madrid, who while painting in the Rococo period of the mid-18th century became one of the precursors to Neoclassical painting, which replace ...

and

Johann Joachim Winckelmann Johann Joachim Winckelmann (; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and foundin ...

. His works cover both Baroque and

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, ...

, the latter prevailing in his paintings rather than in his frescoes. His greatest patron was

Karl Joseph von Firmian Karl Joseph von Firmian (15 August 1716, in Trento – 20 July 1782, in Milan) was an Austrian noble, who served as Plenipotentiary of Lombardy to the Austrio-Hungarian Empire. His proper name was Karl Gotthard von Firmian, and in Italy known as C ...

, the Imperial Governor of Lombardy under Maria Theresa who commissioned him to paint the Palazzo Firmian-Vigoni. From 1793, he taught at the

Brera Academy The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera ("academy of fine arts of Brera"), also known as the or Brera Academy, is a state-run tertiary public academy of fine arts in Milan, Italy. It shares its history, and its main building, with the Pinacoteca di ...

of Fine Arts in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

where he died in 1804."Knoller, Martin"
''Web Gallery of Art''. Retrieved 12 September 2012. Among his pupils was Giuseppe Mazzola.

Art

His works often depict groups of figures, the principal subject always clearly located in the foreground. He uses bright colors, especially for clothing. In Knoller's work, individuals are dominant. He has a less rigid approach to classicism, the colours are less powerful while the composition is clear and well-ordered, free of Baroque pathos. A master of perspective, he depicts his figures in unusual attitudes.

Works

Frescoes: *Anras Church, East Tyrol (1754) *Karlskirche, Volders near Innsbruck (1765) *

Ettal Abbey Ettal Abbey (german: Kloster Ettal) is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Ettal close to Oberammergau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town i ...

near

Oberammergau Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The small town on the Ammer River is known for its woodcarvers and woodcarvings, for its NATO School, and around the world for its 380-year tradition of ...

(1769) * Neresheim Abbey (1770–1775) *Gries bei Bozen Abbey (1772–1775) * Palazzo Belgioioso, Milan (1781) *Taxis Palais, Innsbruck (1785–1786) Altarpieces: *Karlkirche, Volders *Servitenkirche, Innsbruck *Parish church of Steinach am Brenner *''St George and the Dragon'', Deutschhauskirche,

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

References

Bibliography

*Karl Weiß, ''Knoller, Martin''. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Vol 16, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, p. 321–323. *Hanns-Paul Ties, ''Paul Troger, seine Schüler, seine Zeit. Neufunde und Neuzuschreibungen zur Tiroler Barockmalerei'', in: Der Schlern, Zeitschrift für Südtiroler Landeskunde, 86, No. 7/8 2012, p. 143 et seq.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knoller, Martin 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 19th-century Italian painters 18th-century Austrian painters 18th-century Austrian male artists Austrian male painters 19th-century Austrian painters 19th-century Austrian male artists Brera Academy faculty 1725 births 1804 deaths Catholic painters 19th-century Italian male artists 18th-century Italian male artists