Franz Gregor Ignaz Eckstein (, ) ( – 1741) was an Austrian

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 ...

painter of Czech ancestry. He worked in

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 ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

, and Galicia.

Life and work

Eckstein was born in in Židovice (today part of

Libčeves Libčeves () is a municipality and village in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 900 inhabitants. Libčeves lies approximately north of Louny, south-west of Ústí nad Labem and north-west of Pragu ...

, Czech Republic). Before 1709, he was a student of . He may also have studied in Rome. His first frescoes were modelled on the complex works of the Italian master,

Andrea Pozzo Andrea Pozzo (; Latinized version: ''Andreas Puteus''; 30 November 1642 – 31 August 1709) was an Italian Jesuit brother, Baroque painter, architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician. Pozzo was best known for his grandiose fresc ...

. In addition to frescoes, he painted

altarpieces An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

. In 1711, he was married in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, where he took up residence, although he accepted commissions from many other places, and travelled frequently. From 1727 to 1733, he lived and worked in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. His final two years were spent in Lemberg, where he died in 1741. His most important works include frescoes in the of the

Minorite The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest contem ...

monastery in Brno, ,

Bernstein Castle Bernstein Castle () is a historical building in Bernstein im Burgenland, Austria, first mentioned in the 13th century. History In 860 the whole region was part of the archbishopric of Salzburg. Erimbert, a liege of the archbishopric, handed ove ...

, the in Kraków, and the Jesuit church in

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. The painter and engraver Gottfried Bernhard Göz was one of his best known students.

Sources

* Anna Lewicka-Morawska, Marek Machowski, Maria Anna Rudzka: ''Słownik malarzy polskich''. Warsaw, Wydawnictwo Arkady, 2003, * Helena Lukešová: ''František Řehoř Ignác Eckstein (1689?–1741), K východiskům jeho freskařsé tvorby'', Master's thesis, Brno, 2009
Online

External links

Encyklopedie Brna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eckstein, Franz Gregor Iagnaz 1680s births 1741 deaths Year of birth uncertain Czech painters Artists from Austria-Hungary Religious artists Fresco painters People from Louny District