Jakob Emanuel Handmann (16 August 1718 in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

– 3 November 1781 in Bern) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

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 ...

specialised in

portrait painting Portrait Painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissi ...

. He was a contemporary of the Swiss painters

Anton Graff Anton Graff (18 November 1736 – 22 June 1813) was an eminent Swiss portrait artist. Among his famous subjects were Friedrich Schiller, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Heinrich von Kleist, Frederick the Great, Friederike Sophie Seyler, Johann Got ...

Jean Preudhomme Jean Preudhomme or Preud'ho(m)me or Prudhomme (baptised on 23 November 1732 in Rolle; buried on 20 July 1795 in La Neuveville) was a Swiss painter. He was a contemporary of the Swiss painters Anton Graff, Johann Jakob Schalch, Angelica Kauffman, ...

Angelica Kauffman Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...

, Johann Jakob Schalch,

Johann Caspar Füssli Johann Caspar Füssli (3 January 1706 – 6 May 1782) was a Swiss portrait painter and writer. Biography Füssli was born in Zurich to Hans Rudolf Füssli, who was also a painter, and Elisabeth Schärer. He studied painting in Vienna betwe ...

and his son

Johann Heinrich Füssli Henry Fuseli ( ; German: Johann Heinrich Füssli ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as ''The Nightmare'', deal with supernatur ...

Life and work

Jakob Emanuel Handmann was the 9th child of Johann Jakob Handmann, a baker and later bailiff of Waldenburg, and his wife Anna Maria Rispach. Between 1735 and 1739 he made an apprenticeship as a

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

plasterer A plasterer is a tradesman or tradesperson who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been ...

and studied painting in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimat ...

with the painter and

Johann Ulrich Schnetzler. He made study trips to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

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 ...

and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. In Paris he worked at the studio of Jean Restout II who influenced his work. In 1742 Handmann travelled through France finding employment in a portrait studio partnership with the painter Hörling. In the business partnership with Hörling Handmann was mainly responsible for painting the heads of the sitters. In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

he worked among others in the studios of

Marco Benefial Marco Benefial (25 April 1684 – 9 April 1764) "Marco Benefial (Getty Museum)" (history), The Getty Museum, 2006, webpage: GM-Benefial. was an Italian, proto- Neoclassical painter, mainly active in Rome. Benefial is best known for ...

and

Pierre Subleyras Pierre Subleyras (; November 25, 1699 – May 28, 1749) was a French painter, active during the late- Baroque and early- Neoclassic period, mainly in Italy. Life Subleyras was born in Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, France. He left France in 1728, having ...

in Rome. There he mainly copied masterpieces from the

Classical Antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

periods. By June 1746 he was back in Switzerland. In 1747 he settled down in

. In Basel he opened his own studio. However, many of his clients were

patricians The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

from the city and the area of Bern. Thanks to the acquaintance of the

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Carl Friedrich von Staal, Handmann became a member of the “

Accademia Clementina The Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna ("academy of fine arts of Bologna") is a public tertiary academy of fine art in Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy. It has a campus in Cesena. Giorgio Morandi taught engraving at the Acc ...

” of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

in 1773. Apart from a trip to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

in 1753 he never again left his native country.

Gallery

File:Handmann, Portrait d'une jeune musicienne.jpg, A Young Musician, 1772 File:Handmann, Adrian Zingg.jpg,

Adrian Zingg Adrian Zingg (April 15, 1734, St.Gallen – May 26, 1816, Leipzig) was a Swiss painter. Life Adrian Zingg received his professional training with his father, the steel cutter Bartolomäus Zingg, then became an apprentice with the engraver ...

, 1767 File:Niklaus Tscharner 1755.jpg, , 1755 File:Handmann Johann Ludwig Aberli.jpg,

Johann Ludwig Aberli Johann Ludwig Aberli (14 November 1723, Winterthur - 17 October 1786, Berne) was a Swiss painter and etcher. Biography He was born into a humble family. His father was a watchman. After completing his basic education, he became the student of a ...

, 1751 File:Leonhard Euler.jpg,

Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...

, 1753 File:Bildnis der Johanna Margaretha Frisching by Jakob Emanuel Handmann.jpg, Johanna Margaretha Frisching, 1758
(relative of

Franz Rudolf Frisching Franz Rudolf Frisching (1733–1807) was a Bernese patrician, officer, politician and industrialist. Life and career Franz Rudolf Frisching was the son of Vinzenz Frisching (1689–1764) who was Master of Schlosswil. In 1748 Franz Rudolf Fr ...

)

Literature and references

* Thieme-Becker: Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Leipzig: Seemann, 1907–1950; Taschenbuchausgabe: München: DTV (1992) * Thomas Freivogel: ''Emanuel Handmann 1718–1781 – Ein Basler Porträtist im Bern des ausgehenden Rokoko'', Licorne-Verlag (2002) * Thomas Freivogel: ''Emanuel Handmann – beliebtester Porträtist der Familie Tscharner!'
(online)
* Thomas Freivogel: Zwei Friedrich-Bildnisse von Emanuel Handmann. In: Jürgen Ziechmann (Hrsg.): Fridericianische Miniaturen Bd. 2 (OLDENBURG 1991), S. 189-201

External links

* * * * https://archive.today/20130101082009/http://www.khist.unizh.ch/static/Biblio/FV/EH_Buchanzeige.htm (German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Handmann, Jakob Emanuel 1718 births 1781 deaths 18th-century Swiss painters 18th-century Swiss male artists Swiss male painters Swiss portrait painters Artists from Bern Artists from Basel-Stadt