Johann Baptist Ranger ( Croatian: ''Ivan Krstitelj Ranger'', Slovene: ''Janez Krstnik Ranger''; 1700–1753) was a Tyrolese

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 ...

painter.

Career

Ranger was born in

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. He entered the Pauline monastic order as a child. He started to paint very early and in its artistic workshops in northern Italy and southern Germany. Because the Paulist order paid particular attention to artistic and cultural activities within the order, he remained in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

from his twenties until his death at Lepoglava, decorating sacral interiors and producing one of the most remarkable

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 ...

opuses of Central European

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

painting 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 ...

. His paintings were stylistically original compositions. Ranger produced most of his opus in churches,

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

s, and

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

, such as in the churches of

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

's in Remete near

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, in Lepoglava, in

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

's in Purga, near Lepoglava, St. Helen's chapel in Šenkovec near

Čakovec Čakovec (; ; ; ) is a city in Northern Croatia, located around north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital, and close to the borders with Slovenia and Hungary. Čakovec is both the county seat and the largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmo ...

, also the church of St. Jerome in nearby hilly Štrigova. The church of St. Jerome was the central site of the Order of Saint Paul the Hermit until the year 1786, when the order was abolished, causing the monasteries, churches and other premises to suffer great devastation. The order's treasures, such as books and other valuables, were scattered or destroyed, its activities left to be lost in time. Ranger's

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 were preserved on arched ceilings and walls over the 250 years since their creation. Ranger had enormous importance and influence upon his disciples and followers in the many works painted later. These characteristics are the illusionist painting of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, the recognizable typology of saints' figures, the colourist features and the incorporation of large compositions onto the relatively small and low walls of the churches. The Pauline order painting school of workshop continued in that way its activity in north-western Croatia long after Ranger's time.

References

External links

Virtual exhibition of Johannes Baptista Ranger

Austrian painter Johann Baptist Ranger (1700-1753), Oxford Index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranger, Johann 1700 births 1753 deaths Baroque painters Austrian painters Austrian male painters Catholic painters People from Tyrol (federal state)

Career

Further reading

References

External links