Johann Daniel Preissler,Also spelled Preisler or Preißler. or Preisler (1666–1737) was a notable member of a German artistic family, originating in Bohemia. His children included Johann Justin Preissler (1698–1771),

Georg Martin Preisler Georg Martin Preisler (fl. 1750) was a German engraver. Born in Nuremberg, he was the son of Johann Daniel Preisler. He was most notable for his portraits and a series of twenty-one engravings of classical and neo-classical sculptures in Rome, ba ...

(1700–1754),

Barbara Helena Preisler Barbara Helena Preißler, Preissler or Preisler, married Oeding (born 12 June 1707 in Nuremberg and died in 1758 in Braunschweig) was a German miniature painter and copper engraver, as well as creator of objects in ivory, wax and alabaster, and a p ...

(1707–1758; married to Oeding), Johan Martin Preisler (1715–1794), and Valentin Daniel Preisler (1717–1765), all in their time renowned artists. Most notable for his portraits, nudes and

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

s, Johann Daniel Preissler also produced drawings and frescoes. He was particularly known beyond his native

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

for his ''Die durch Theorie erfundene Practic'' (full title: ''Die durch Theorie'' ''erfundene Practic oder Gründlich verfasste Reguln deren man sich als einer Anleitung zu berühmter Künstlere Zeichen-Wercke bestens bedienen kann''), a sequence of works on art theory – the individual works were translated into several other languages and served as textbooks for students such as the Swiss

Salomon Gessner Salomon Gessner (1730–1788) was a Swiss painter, graphic artist, government official, newspaper publisher and poet; best known in the latter instance for his ''Idylls''. Biography His father, Hans Konrad Gessner (1696–1775), was a printer, ...

right up until the 19th century. By the time of his death in 1737, Johann Caspar Füssli spoke of Preissler and Jan Kupecky as the two most famous Nuremberg artists of the early 18th century.

Life

Preissler was the posthumous son of the history painter and portraitist

Daniel Preissler Daniel Preissler (or Preisler, born in Prague on 8 March 1627 and died in Nuremberg on 19 June 1665) was a German painter, originating from Bohemia. Biography Preissler was the son of the locksmith Georg Preisler and descended from an old ren ...

(1627–1665). He got his education in the studio of

Johann Murrer Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning " Yahweh is Gracio ...

. From 1688 to 1696 he stayed in Italy, including periods in Rome and Venice. In 1705 he became the director of Nuremberg's

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 ...

which under his leadership turned into a city institution. In 1716 he founded the ''Zeichenschule'' (drawing school), open to "poor people's children" – it proved a great success. With 71 students entering in the first year, its intake was so large that in 1721 Preissler began producing the teaching materials which later became his ''Die durch Theorie erfundene Practic'' – he had previously only published academic works, such as ones on anatomy. Preissler also wrote on the academically neglected topics such as ornament and flower-drawing (in 1725) and landscape drawing (1739), though throughout his writing he insisted that these were only beginners' lessons. According to the ''Nuernbergisches'' ''Gelehrten''-''Lexicon'', he suffered from poor health, which prevented him from achieving all the expectations his great talent allowed. The same article indicates that his five sons were not only excellent artists but fond of music, and to make him happy, they often liked to play a concert for him, in which he occasionally himself participated.

Notes

Bibliography

* '' (de) Nürnberger Künstlerlexikon''. 2007 * (de) Wilhelm Schwemmer: ''Nürnberger Kunst im 18. Jahrhundert.'' * (de) Wolf Eiermann: ''Die Veröffentlichungen der Nürnberger Mahler-Academie.'' * (de) Friedrich Leitschuh
''Preisler, Daniel [family article]''
In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 26. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, S. 550–552. *(de) Will, Georg Andreas, ''Nürnbergisches Gelehrten-Lexikon, As supplemented by Christian Conrad Nopitsch (8 volumes), published 1755-1802''.

External links

in the catalogue of the

Deutschen Nationalbibliothek The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

Johann Daniel Preißler
at arthistoricum.net *https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110221/https://portal.d-nb.de/opac.htm?query=Woe%3D116282061&method=simpleSearch *http://www.arthistoricum.net/themen/themenportale/geschichte-der-kunstgeschichte/quellen-zur-geschichte-der-kunstgeschichte-digital/johann-daniel-preissler-1666-1737/ 1666 births 1737 deaths German engravers 17th-century German painters German male painters 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg {{Germany-artist-stub