Emanuel Büchel (August 18, 1705 – September 24, 1775) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. Büchel's

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

s are known for their use of bright colors. The high point of his career came in 1773, when he was commissioned to reproduce the painting 'The Dance of Death' in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. The project was difficult to execute, because the original painting had undergone countless renovations and changes, and was damaged to a great extent. Although Büchel worked on it and gave the painting his characteristic touch of vivacious colors, the painting's poor condition meant that it only survived 32 years after Büchel's renovations. Another of Büchel's works, the 'Dance of Death' on the wall of the Kleinbasel churchyard, has survived. Situated inside an abandoned nunnery, the mural has had better protection against weather, wear and tear,

iconoclasm Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

s, and renovations than some of Büchel's other works. Although the mural is only an imitation of a medieval painting that Büchel saw in 1768, it has acquired special significance since the original painting has now been lost. Büchel's work, therefore, is the only source for ascertaining what the original painting looked like. Büchel created two sets of his water colors. One is housed in Kunstsammlung Basel and the other is in the university's library.

Gallery

File:Bellelay Bild.jpg,

Bellelay Abbey Bellelay Abbey is a former Premonstratensian monastery in the Bernese Jura in Switzerland, now a psychiatric clinic. It is a heritage site of national significance and the entire former Abbey complex is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Si ...

, 1755 File:Buechel kluebinlagevon 1751 1127.jpg, Schloss Klybeck,

, 1750 File:Büchel Festung Hüningen 1749.jpg, Basel-Kleinhüningen, 1749 File:Zentralbibliothek Solothurn - WALDECK Ein Lust Schloss in der Gegend von Solothurn von Mittage anzsehen bekröntes Besenval Wappen VALDEC Maison de Plaisance dans les Environs de de sic Soleure du Côté de Midi - aa0162.tif, Waldegg Castle, around 1760

References

18th-century Swiss painters 18th-century Swiss male artists Swiss male painters 1705 births 1775 deaths {{Switzerland-painter-stub