Samuel Amsler (17 December 1791 - 18 May 1849), a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

engraver, was born at

Schinznach Schinznach is a municipality in the district of Brugg in canton of Aargau in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Oberflachs and Schinznach-Dorf merged to form the new municipality of Schinznach.

, in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capit ...

. He studied his art under Johan Heinrich Lips (1758–1817) and Karl Ernst Hess, at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, and from 1816 pursued it in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and chiefly at

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. In 1829, he succeeded his former master Hess as professor of

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an i ...

in the Munich academy. The works he designed and engraved are remarkable for the grace of the figures, and for the wonderful skill with which he retains and expresses the characteristics of the original paintings and statues. He was a passionate admirer of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

, and had great success in reproducing his works. Amsler's principal engravings are: ''The Triumphal March of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

'', and a full-length ''

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religi ...

'', after the sculptures of

Thorwaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish and Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in ...

and

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; the ''

Entombment of Christ The burial of Jesus refers to the entombment of the body of Jesus after crucifixion, before the eve of the sabbath described in the New Testament. According to the canonical gospel narratives, he was placed in a tomb by a councillor of the san ...

'', and two '' Madonnas'' after Raphael; and the ''Union between Religion and the Arts'', after

Overbeck Overbeck may refer to: *Carla Overbeck (1968–) is an American soccer player and longtime member and captain of the United States women's national soccer team. *Christian Adolph Overbeck (1755–1821) was a German poet, and the Burgomaster of Lüb ...

, his last work, on which he spent six years. His portrait album, now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, includes a fine head of the poet Friedrich Rückert.(1) A family portrait of Amsler by

Wilhelm von Kaulbach Wilhelm von Kaulbach (15 October 18057 April 1874) was a German painter, noted mainly as a muralist, but also as a book illustrator. His murals decorate buildings in Munich. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Biography ...

is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.(2)The portrait on the right is also by von Kaulbach (1833).

Notes

(1) Colin J. Bailey, 'Samuel Amsler's Portrait Album', in The Burlington Magazine CXXXIII, No. 1062, September 1990, pp. 647-667, with many illustrations. (2) The portrait album and the family portrait were presented by descendants of the artist.

References

External links

Portrait of Samuel Amsler and Family, Victoria and Albert Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amsler, Samuel 1791 births 1849 deaths 19th-century engravers Swiss engravers