Johann Jacob Mettenleiter (9 August 1750,

Heidenheim an der Brenz Heidenheim an der Brenz, or just Heidenheim (; Swabian language, Swabian: ''Hoidna'' or ''Hoirna''), is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located near the border with Bavaria, approximately 17 km south of Aalen and 33&n ...

- 25 February 1825,

Gatchina Gatchina (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which links Saint Petersburg and Pskov. Population: It was pr ...

) was a German-born painter and engraver who spent most of his career in Russia. He became a noted

Academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. Accor ...

at the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of th ...

Biography

His father was a

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

and his mother taught school. His first art lessons were provided by Johann Georg Zink, a painter from

Neresheim Neresheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated northeast of Heidenheim an der Brenz, Heidenheim, and southeast of Aalen. It's the home of the Neresheim Abbey, which still hosts monks, was ''Reich ...

. The

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 ...

s by

Martin Knoller Martin Knoller (18 November 1725 – 24 July 1804) was an Austrian-Italian painter active in Italy who is remembered for his fresco work. Biography Born in Steinach am Brenner near the Austrian city of Innsbruck, Knoller studied under Paul Troge ...

, in the nearby

Neresheim Abbey Neresheim Abbey or the Abbey of Saints Ulrich and Afra, Neresheim ( or ) is located above the town of Neresheim in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany. It is now a Benedictine monastery and is part of the Beuronese Congregation. First foundat ...

, would have a major influence on his style. He then went to

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district ...

for further training. He travelled throughout Germany, then settled in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 1773. There, he was recruited as a soldier for the

Dutch Cape Colony The Cape of Good Hope () was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) supplystation in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original supply station and the successive states that the area was ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

he was able to make enough money selling his art to buy his way out of service and return to Europe. In 1775, he and his younger brother, , travelled to Italy and Vienna. In 1786, he went to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where he would live for the rest of his life. Later that same year, he was named an Academician as a specialist in

cabinet painting A cabinet painting (or cabinet picture) is a small painting, typically no larger than in either dimension, but often much smaller. The term is especially used for paintings that show full-length figures or landscapes at a small scale, rather th ...

, Flemish style. In 1790, then Grand Duke Paul and his wife

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

commissioned him to paint views of Pavlovsk and Gatchina. In addition to his canvases, he painted the altarpiece at the Church of St. Catherine on

Nevsky Prospect Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is a main street ( high street) located in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. Its name comes from the Alexander Nevs ...

, (not preserved) and several ceiling paintings for

Saint Michael's Castle Saint Michael's Castle (, ''Mikhailovsky zamok''), also called the Mikhailovsky Castle or the Engineers' Castle (, ''Inzhenerny zamok''), is a former royal residence in the historic centre of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Saint Michael's Castle wa ...

(in the Throne Room and the Raphael Gallery). Later, he took part in the decoration of the Raphael Loggias in the Hermitage. He is also known for his church paintings at the Monrepos estate in

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

, the home of Baron

Ludwig Heinrich von Nicolay Ludwig Heinrich Freiherr von Nicolay (; 25 December 1737, in Strasbourg, in Monrepos north of Vyborg) was a German poet of the Enlightenment. He served as President of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences between 1798 and 1803. Nicolay was t ...

. He lived in the kitchen wing of the

Grand Palace The Grand Palace (, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. . ) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the officia ...

. A story is told that, immediately following the assassination of Emperor Paul I, it was Mettenleiter who painted a portrait of his disfigured face. He died there in 1825, and was interred in the cemetery at , which has not been preserved. Despite his popularity at the time, modern Russian critics have often been unkind. The art historian,

Nikolay Lanceray Nikolay Evgenievich Lanceray (; 26 April 1879 – 6 May 1942) was a Russian architect, preservationist, illustrator of books and historian of neoclassical art, biographer of Charles Cameron, Vincenzo Brenna and Andreyan Zakharov. Lanceray was ...

. dismissed his work as being mediocre in color and design.Nikolay Lanceray, , , Sergei Kaznakov, ''Gatchina under Pavel Petrovich, Tsarevich and Emperor'' (anthology), Liga, 1995

Selected paintings

Peasants and pie-seller by Mettenleiter (1780s, Russian museum).jpg, Peasants and a
Pie-Seller Mettenleyter (1750-1825). View of Gatchina park.jpg, View of Gatchina Manor from the Signal Tower of

Gatchina Palace The Great Gatchina Palace () is a palace in Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It was built from 1766 to 1781 by Antonio Rinaldi (architect), Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov, who was a favourite of Catherine the Great, in ...

Меттенлейтер Деревенский-обед.jpg, Rustic Lunch Zoo in Gatchina by J.J. Mettenleiter (1792, Gatchina) by shakko.jpg, Menagerie in Gatchina Mettleitner Maedchen.jpeg, Girl With a Bird

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mettenleiter, Johann Jacob 1750 births 1825 deaths German painters Russian painters German emigrants to Russia People from Heidenheim (district)

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links