Ignaz Unterberger (24 July 1748,

Cavalese Cavalese (''Cavalés'' in local dialect, ''Gablöss'' in local german dialect) is a ''comune'' of 4,004 inhabitants in Trentino, northern Italy, a ski resort and the main center in the Fiemme Valley. It is part of the Magnifica Comunità di Fiem ...

– 4 December 1797,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) was a painter and printmaker, who was also an inventor. He lived his entire life in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. He was a member of a large dynasty of Tyrolean artists.

Biography

Unterberger was probably born on 24 July 1748 in Gaßlöss (now called

), located in the

County of Tyrol The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an Imperial State, estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with th ...

, today in Italy. His initial artistic instruction came from his uncle Franz Sebald Unterberger (1706-1776). Unterberger Senior taught his nephew the style of the Tyrol. This was High

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 ...

- famed for intricate church altarpieces, sculpture and frescoes. Artists working in Vienna and

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

found themselves training in Rome, including Ignaz's elder brother. Christoph Unterberger (1732-1798)'s influence as a member of the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...

provided Ignaz with access to a pivotal group of Italian artists when he arrived in Rome in 1769. His ability to capture the Italian style was such that his painting 'Maternal Love' was thought to have been

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for som ...

's. Unterberger was a highly capable artist, with experience in creating frescoes, altarpiece paintings, bambocciata and marble work. The artist stated that he only painted for a livelihood, but

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, 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 proces ...

was his real passion. Unterberger's printmaking is not particularly well-known, although some of his prints were included in the British Museum's 1994 exhibition and catalogue 'Printmaking in the Age of Goethe'. He did not engage in printmaking until he returned to

from Rome in 1773, when he applied himself exclusively to the

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

. His inventions included an excavating machine for digging

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

s, a foot-pedal for the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

, and a machine for preparing mezzotint plates. Unterberger was never made a member of the Academy in Vienna, despite exhibiting there. Nevertheless his work was highly regarded, and the Imperial Chancellor

Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (, ; 2 February 1711 – 27 June 1794) was an Austrian and Czech diplomat and statesman in the Habsburg monarchy. A proponent of enlightened absolutism, he held the office of List of foreign ministers of Au ...

was a patron. His painting ''Hebe'' (1795) was a sensation for its lighting effects, and bought by Emperor Francis II for a large amount. He was also made a ''Royal and Imperial Court Painter''. Unfortunately, he only benefited from this role for two years before heart failure lead to his death on 4 December 1797, leaving a widow and nine children.Griffiths and Carey

Notes

References

* G. Briganti, ''La Pittura in Italia. Il Settecento'', Milan, 1990, II, pp. 889–90, with bibliography. * A. Griffiths and F. Carey, ''German Printmaking in the Age of Goethe'', London, 1994, pp. 90–93 * Grant, Sarah (2014). 'The Ornament Prints of Ignaz Unterberger' in ''Print Quarterly''. Volume XXXI. pp. 280–293

External links

Ignaz Unterberger
@ the Masonic Wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Unterberger 1748 births 1797 deaths 18th-century painters from the Holy Roman Empire Italian male painters People from Cavalese 18th-century male artists