Eberhard Kieser (December 2, 1583 in

Kastellaun Kastellaun () is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality. Geography Location The town lies in the eastern Hunsrüc ...

– November 1631, in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

) was a German engraver and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

Personal

Kieser was the son of a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

. He learned the

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

's trade. In the early summer of 1609, through his marriage with Anna Christina Hoffmann, a painter's daughter, he received citizen's rights in Frankfurt am Main, worked as a goldsmith in Sachsenhausen and began to draw and engrave. From 1612 he illustrated and published books and produced illustrative prints in his publishing workshop with several engravers as assistants.

Work

His most important work is a

Dance of Death The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...

after

Holbein Holbein may refer to: *Holbein (surname) *Holbein, Saskatchewan, a small village in Canada *Holbein carpet, a type of Ottoman carpet *Holbein stitch, a type of embroidery stitch * Holbein (crater), a crater on Mercury {{Disambig ...

, consisting of 60 small-format etchings from 1617. Kieser is also known for the ''Thesaurus philopoliticus'' (German title: ''Politisches Schatzkästlein guter Herren und bestendiger Freund''), a collection of copperplate engravings with city views, which Kieser and

Daniel Meisner Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the activi ...

(1585–1625), originally from

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, produced and successfully published. These engravings appeared in 16 books with 831 city images until 1631. Each picture has a motto in Latin and German, written by Meisner. It is not certain that Kieser produced printing plates for the thesaurus in addition to his publishing activities. From 1617/18

Sebastian Furck Sebastian Furck or Fulcarus (c.1589–1666) was a German engraving, engraver. Life Furck was born at Alterkülz, Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, Hundsrück, in about 1589. In the early part of his life he lived at Rome, where he engraved some plates as ...

, and later Georg Keller,

Matthäus Merian Matthäus is a given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: ;Surname * Lothar Matthäus, (born 1961), German former football player and manager ;Given name * Matthäus Aurogallus, Professor of Hebrew at the University of Wittenberg ...

, and Johann Eckard Löffler worked for Kieser. In 1631 the printing plates were acquired by

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

publisher

Paul Fürst Paul Fürst (born 12 August 1856 in Sierning, Austria, died 14 February 1941 in Salzburg) was an Austrian confectioner and the inventor of the " Original Salzburger Mozartkugel". Biography Paul Fürst was the son of Johann Fürst (1827–186 ...

after Kieser's death . In 1638/42 Fürst published around 800 of the engravings in the work ''Sciographia Cosmica'' in 8 volumes; In 1678 and 1700 further editions followed from the widow and son-in-law of Fürst. In addition to the ''Thesaurus philopoliticus'', the type of engravings and etchings suggest Georg Keller as an artist: * ''Krönungsdiarium Maximilians II.'', 1612 * Johann Jacob Wallhausen's ''Ritterkunst'', Frankfurt 1616 * Johann Jacob Wallhausen's ''Romantische Kriegskunst'', Frankfurt 1616 * ''Österreichischer Lorbeerkranz'', 1625 Fettmilch-Aufstand Anfuehrer

In addition, Kieser published a 78-sheet series of

emperors The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rule ...

, electors and nobles on horseback as well as portraits of Fettmilch, Schopp, Gerngros and Ebel (leaders of the

Fettmilch uprising The Fettmilch uprising () of 1614 was an antisemitic revolt in the Free imperial city of Frankfurt am Main, led by baker Vincenz Fettmilch. It was initially a revolt by the guilds against the mismanagement of the Patriciate of Frankfurt am Main, ...

) in the style of Sebastian Furck.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kieser, Eberhard 1583 births 1631 deaths Artists from Frankfurt 17th-century German engravers German printmakers German publishers (people)