Joseph Antony Adolph (often Adolphe) (1729–after 1771) was a Moravian painter who spent part of his career in England.

Life

He was born at Nikolsburg in

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

(now

Mikulov Mikulov (; ) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,600 inhabitants. From the 16th to the 19th century, it was the cultural centre of the Jewish community of Moravia. The historic centr ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

), on 6 July 1721, the son of Joseph Frank Adolph, painter to Prince C. Max von Dietrichstein. He was in Paris in 1745 and by 1750 he was in England, where he stayed for some years. He painted an equestrian portrait of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

(later King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

of Great Britain); an engraving after it, by

Bernard Baron Bernard Baron (1696? – 1762) Web articl Library of Congress, lower section "About the Artists" was a French engraver and etcher who spent much of his life in England. Life Baron was born in Paris in 1696, the son of the engraver Laurent Baron ...

, was published in 1755. He spent some time in Norfolk, painting portraits of Elisha de Hague and Benjamin Hancock for the collection of civic portraits hung in St Andrew's Hall in Norwich in 1764, and exhibiting his paintings "at the Bowling Green, near Chapel Fields" in the city that year. A portrait of Caroline D'Arcy, 4th Marchioness of Lothian in the collection of the

National Galleries of Scotland The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...

, previously attributed to

Allan Ramsay Allan Ramsay may refer to: *Allan Ramsay (poet) or Allan Ramsay the Elder (1686–1758), Scottish poet *Allan Ramsay (artist) Allan Ramsay (13 October 171310 August 1784) was a Scottish portrait Painting, painter. Life and career Ramsay w ...

is now thought to be by Adolph; the collection suggests that it may have been painted when she was living at

Blickling Blickling is a village and civil parish in the Broadland district of the English county of Norfolk. Blickling is located north-west of Aylsham and north of Norwich. Most of the village is located within the Blickling Estate, which has been ow ...

, Norfolk, in around 1750. During his years in England Adolph is said to have worked mostly as a portrait painter, but on his return to Austria he was employed in the decoration of interiors, adorning walls with frescoes, and painting the ceilings of large saloons. Three altarpieces by him are in the collegiate church of Nikolsburg. The date of his death is unknown, although he was still alive in 1772.The first edition of the ''Dictionary of National Biography'' erroneously gives the date of his death as 1761.

References

Sources

* 18th-century Austrian painters 18th-century Austrian male artists Austrian male painters People from Mikulov 1729 births Year of death unknown Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire Immigrants to the Kingdom of Great Britain {{austria-painter-stub