Ismael Israel Mengs (1688–1764) was a Danish-born portrait and enamel painter of Jewish ancestry; active mainly at the court of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Biography

His family was originally from

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

. He began by studying enamel painting with

Benoît Le Coffre Benoît Le Coffre (1671 – 1722) was a Danish painter of French descent. He became King Frederick IV's Court Painter in 1700 and is considered the earliest representative of light Rococo painting in Denmark. Biography Benoît Le Coffre was ...

, a French artist who worked for the Danish court. In 1709, after further training in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

, he studied oil painting with

Paul Heinecken Paul Heinecken or Heineken (9 December 1674, Riga - 1746, Lübeck) Alken Bruns: "Heineken, Paul", In: ''Lübecker Lebensläufe aus neun Jahrhunderten'', Karl Wachholtz Verlag, 1993 was a German painter, architect, and graphic artist. He enjoyed ...

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

. Following travels in Germany, Austria and Italy, he settled in Dresden and worked as a miniaturist. Shortly after, he was baptized as a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. In 1714, he became a Court Painter to

Augustus II Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

, the King of Poland and

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

.Rudolf Grulich: "Ein getaufter Jude aus Dänemark und die Aussiger Madonna". In: ''Mitteilungen Haus Königstein'', # 5 (2011), Vol.4, p. 17 He made a study trip to Italy in 1718. There, he was impressed by the works of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

and

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 ...

. Later, when teaching his children, he employed the lessons he had learned from examining their works. His best-known offspring, Anton Rafael, was said to consider him a strict and often tyrannical teacher. He also had two daughters who became miniaturists. On several occasions, their training included study trips to Italy. In addition to painting, he used his knowledge of chemistry to develop colors for the

Meissen Porcelain Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first Europe, European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's ...

manufactory. For several years, he taught at the drawing school there. In 1764, not long before his death, he was named an honorary professor at the newly established

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

Selected works

Mengs Self-portrait in Polish costume.jpg, Self-portrait in Polish Costume (1710s) Mengs Lady with a son in Polish costume.jpg, A Woman and her Son in Polish Costume Ismael Mengs Greisenkopf.jpg, An Old Man's Head AussigerMadonna.jpg, The Aussiger Madonna

References

External links

Biography of Mengs
@ the Stadtwiki Dresden {{DEFAULTSORT:Mengs, Ismael 1688 births 1765 deaths Immigrants to the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century Danish painters 18th-century male artists 18th-century Danish Jews Danish male painters Danish portrait painters Jewish Danish artists Portrait miniaturists

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links