Cosmas Damian Asam (29 September 1686 – 10 May 1739) was a German

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 ...

and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

during the late

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

period. Born in Benediktbeuern, he lived in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

from 1711 to 1713 to study at the Accademia di San Luca with Carlo Maratta. In 1713, Asam won the Academy's first prize for his drawing of ''Miracle of Saint Pio''. In Germany, he worked with his brother Egid Quirin, a sculptor and stucco worker, on building and decorating entirely new churches (such as the Asam Church in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

) or redesigning churches in the Baroque style (

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— Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Emmeram). Their joint projects are often attributed to the " Asam Brothers". Cosmas Damian died in

Major works

The Asam Brothers, singularly and together, were very prolific artists. They typically worked for Benedictine monasteries, though they occasionally took secular commissions. Cosmas Damian's altar depicting The Vision of St. Benedict in Weltenburg— Monastery Church of St. George and St. Martin is thought to be the first realistic depiction of a solar eclipse in Western art history. Some of the major works of Cosmas Damian are the following.

Bavaria

* Aldersbach— Monastery Church of Mariae Himmelfahrt (

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es of the

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

, Nativity, Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

, and the

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) * Amberg—Pilgrimage Church of Maria-Hilf (ceiling frescoes of Amberg pilgrimage) (1718) * Benediktbeuern— Church of St. Benedikt (Antonius Funda altar) * Freising—Dom St. Maria and St. Korbinian (

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

paintings and stucco) (1723–1724) *

Freystadt :''"Freystadt" is also the German names for Kisielice and Kożuchów, Poland.'' Freystadt (; Northern Bavarian: ''Freystod'') is a town in the district of Neumarkt in Bavaria. It is situated near the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, 14 km sout ...

—Pilgrimage Church of Maria-Hilf (frescoes) * Friedberg—Pilgrimage Church of the Peace of the Lord (painting in the chancel) (1738) * Fürstenfeldbruck— Monastery Church of the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin (vault painting) *

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

—Asam Church of Maria Viktoria (frescos, possibly architect) * Metten— Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Michael (high altar painting of ''Lucifer Destroyed by St. Michael'') * Sloderdjik Church of Christ ltar paintings of the Ascension*

—Franciscan Monastery Church of St. Anna im Lehel (ceiling paintings, restored in 1971–1972 after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

damage, and altars) *

— Catholic Church of St. Johann Nepomuk (Asam Church) (built and decorated entirely by the Asam Brothers) (1733–1746) *

— Dreifaltigkeitskirche (dome fresco of the ''Adoration of the Trinity'') * Osterhofen Abbey—Papal Basilica of St. Margaretha (frescoes) *

— Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Emmeram (frescoed walls and ceilings) * Schleissheim— Neues Schloss (New Castle) (vault fresco) *

Straubing Straubing (; Central Bavarian: ''Strauwing'') is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the Districts of Germany, district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Ba ...

—Urselinenkirche (interior paintings) * Weltenburg— Monastery Church of St. George and St. Martin (architect and paintings, with his brother Egid Quirin portrayed as an angel in one of the frescoes, high altar, side altars) (1716–1724)

Baden-Württemberg

* Bruchsal—Schloss church decoration (1730) (now destroyed) * Ettlingen—Schloss chapel (design and ceiling paintings) in Ettlingen Palace *

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

—Schloss (architectural design and ceiling paintings, now restored after World War II damage) * Meßkirch—Johann Nepomuk Chapel in Basilica St. Martin (decorations) (1733–1734) * Weingarten— Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Martin of Tours and St. Oswald (frescoes)

Austria

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

—Dom zu St. Jakob (Innsbruck Cathedral) (ceiling frescoes on the life of St. James) (1722–1723) *

—Landtagssaal (State Parliament Hall) in the Alte Landhaus (ceiling and wall frescoes) (1725–1728)

Poland

* Wahlstatt— Legnickie Pole (Wahlstatt, Lower Silesia) (The Finding of the True Cross, ceiling fresco) (1733)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asam, Cosmas Damian 1686 births 1739 deaths 17th-century German painters German male painters 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists 17th-century German architects German Baroque painters Pupils of Carlo Maratta 18th-century German architects