Wenzel Jamnitzer (sometimes Jamitzer, or Wenzel ''Gemniczer'') (1507/1508 – 19 December 1585) was a

Northern Mannerist Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, es ...

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servic ...

, artist, and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

, who worked in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. He was the best known German goldsmith of his era, and court goldsmith to a succession of

Holy Roman Emperors The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperato ...

. A native of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Jamnitzer was a member of a Moravian German family which, for more than 160 years, had produced works under the names ''Jamnitzer, Jemniczer, Gemniczer, and Jamitzer''. Wenzel, with his brother Albrecht, was trained by his father Hans the Elder. Later, Wenzel's son Hans Jamnitzer (1539–1603) and grandson Christof Jamnitzer (1563–1618) continued his business. Jamnitzer worked as a court goldsmith for all the German emperors of his era, including

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Inf ...

, Ferdinand I, Maximilian II, and

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the ...

. Also, he probably invented an embossing machine. In 1534, Jamnitzer settled in Nuremberg. He made

vase A vase ( or ) is an open container. It can be made from a number of materials, such as ceramics, glass, non-rusting metals, such as aluminium, brass, bronze, or stainless steel. Even wood has been used to make vases, either by using tree species ...

s and jewelry boxes with great skill, in a style based on that of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the tran ...

. Besides precious metals, he incorporated

hardstone Hardstone is a non-scientific term, mostly encountered in the decorative arts or archaeology, that has a similar meaning to semi-precious stones, or gemstones. Very hard building stones, such as granite, are not included in the term in this sense, ...

s, shells,

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

s, and small birds'

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

in his works. In 1543 he was appointed as a coin and seal die-cutter by the city of Nuremberg. In 1552, he became master of the city mint. Jamnitzer performed scientific studies to improve the technical knowledge of his guild. In 1568 he published '' Perspectiva Corporum Regularium'' (Perspective of regular solids), a book remembered for its engravings of

polyhedra In geometry, a polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional shape with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices. A convex polyhedron is the convex hull of finitely many points, not all on ...

. This book was based on Plato's Timaeus and

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the ''Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ge ...

Elements Element or elements may refer to: Science * Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom * Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance * Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of o ...

, and it contained 120 forms based on the

Platonic solid In geometry, a Platonic solid is a convex, regular polyhedron in three-dimensional Euclidean space. Being a regular polyhedron means that the faces are congruent (identical in shape and size) regular polygons (all angles congruent and all edge ...

s. From 1573, Jamnitzer represented the Goldsmiths on the Nuremberg city council. From 1571 to 1576, he worked with

Johan Gregor van der Schardt Johan (or Jan) Gregor van der Schardt (Nijmegen, Netherlands, c. 1530/31 – Denmark, after 1581) was a sculptor from the Northern Renaissance. Life He toured Italy in the 1560s and among others worked in Bologna. From 1569 to 1576 he was in ...

, a sculptor. Wenzel Jamnitzer died on 19 December 1585 and was buried in St. John's Cemetery in Nuremberg (grave No. 664). His grave is decorated in bronze and has an epitaph by

Jost Amman Jost Amman (June 13, 1539 – March 17, 1591) was a Swiss-German artist, celebrated chiefly for his woodcuts, done mainly for book illustrations. Early life Amman was born in Zürich, the son of a professor of Classics and Logic. He w ...

, an artist known for his

woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

. Examples of his work can be seen in Vienna, the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the '' Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central ...

, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and elsewhere. Many of his works were probably melted down during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

References

External links

Mathematik und Kunst: Bilder von Wentzel Jamnitzer aus der Perspectiva Corporum Regularium

Erich Mulzer in MVGN, Band 61 (1974), Online-Version

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamitzer, Wenzel 16th-century German people 16th-century Austrian people German goldsmiths German printmakers Austrian printmakers German people of Moravian-German descent Artists from Vienna Artists from Nuremberg 1500s births 1585 deaths