Stephan Dorfmeister or, in Hungarian, Dorffmaister István (1729 – 29 May 1797) was a painter of German origin who worked primarily in

Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...

and

Transdanubia Transdanubia ( ; , or ', ) is a traditional region of Hungary. It is also referred to as Hungarian Pannonia, or Pannonian Hungary. Administrative divisions Traditional interpretation The borders of Transdanubia are the Danube River (north and ...

(now part of Hungary).

Biography

A birth year of 1729 is assumed, based on parish registers from the city of Ödenburg. Hungarian sources indicate that the year was 1725.''Művészeti Lexikon'' (Eds. Zádor, Anna – Genthon, István) Budapest 1965, Vol.I. (Article by Endre Csatkai) He was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the eldest of the five children of Johann Christof Georg Dorfmeister (1705–1789) and his wife Elisabeth, née Millner. His youngest brother was the Austrian sculptor, . From 1751 to 1758, he studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

, where his instructors were

Paul Troger Paul Troger (30 October 1698 – 20 July 1762) was an Austrian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker of the late Baroque period. Troger's illusionistic ceiling paintings in fresco are notable for their dramatic vitality of movement and their pale ...

, the Rector of the academy, and , a

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 ...

painter from

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. From 1769, he referred to himself as a "foreign" member of the academy, although there are no supporting documents. After acquiring an expertise in fresco painting, c.1760,Karoly Garas: "A soproni Edlinger ház és Gregorio Guglielmi as Edlinger-Haus in Sopron (Ödenburg) und Gregorio Guglielmi. In: ''Tanulmányok Csatkai Endre emlékére tudien in memóriám Endre Csatkai'. Ed., Környei, A. – G. Szende, K. Sopron 1996 he received an order from the

Provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

of the

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

abbey in Gschirna for painting the monastery church. In 1761, he worked at the new monastery in

Türje Türje is a village in Zala County, Hungary. The village is located in the North-Eastern part of Zala County, near the great turn of Zala river, between the Keszthelyi Mountains and Kemeneshát Hills. The village has a railway station on the li ...

. Around 1762, he moved to a home near Ödenburg, but never became a

Bürger Bürger or Buerger is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Gottfried August Bürger, German poet * Heinrich Bürger, German physicist and biologist * Heinrich Otto Wilhelm Bürger, German zoologist * Karl-Heinz Bürger, German S ...

(citizen) there; possibly to avoid compulsory military service. During this time, he married Anna Franz and they had nine children together. After her death in 1790, he married Katharina Gillig. He worked mainly in what is now Western Hungary. His primary customers were the Bishops of Steinamanger and Fünfkirchen, as well the region's numerous monasteries. He also had some clientele among the nobility. Many of the secular buildings he decorated have since been destroyed or demolished. Surviving examples include the hall in , the decorations at the

Hegyfalu Hegyfalu is a village in Vas county, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east ...

castles near Kotenburg an der Raab and the municipal theater in Ödenburg. About fifty portraits are known to be his. His three eldest sons assisted in his workshop. The eldest of them, Stephan Joseph Dorfmeister the Younger (1764-1807) helped with projects in Sankt Gotthard. Many works created after 1797 were jointly signed. His next eldest, Joseph Paul Stephan Dorfmeister (born 1770), remained with him in his workshop and completed his last commission; the

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

at the church in Magotsch (1798). Despite his thriving business, he was plagued by financial problems his entire life and left his family deeply in debt. He died in

Ödenburg Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

Selected works

Dorffmaister, István - St Martin in Glory.jpg, 1778: The Transfiguration of
Saint Martin Dorffmaister Portrait of Borbála Barkóczy c. 1780.jpg, 1780: Portrait of the poet, Dorffmaister, István - Pentecost (1782).jpg, 1782: The

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

Miracle Dorffmaister Abbot Marian Reuter and the Lyceum at Szombathely 1794-95.png, 1794–95: Abbott with the Lyceum teachers of Steinamanger Dorffmaister III. Károly átadja Szentgotthárd adománylevelét Robert Leeb apátnak 1795-96.jpg, 1795–96: Kaiser Karl VI with Abbott in Sankt Gotthard Dorffmaister The death of Louis II of Hungary 1795-1796.jpg, 1795–96: The Death of

Ludwig II Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duk ...

at the Battle of Mohacs Bela 3.jpg, 1796: King

Béla III Béla may refer to: * Béla (crater), an elongated lunar crater * Béla (given name), a common Hungarian male given name See also * Bela (disambiguation) * Belá (disambiguation) * Bělá (disambiguation) Bělá may refer to: Places in the Cze ...

, founding the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery of Sankt Gotthard

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorfmeister, Stephan 1729 births 1797 deaths Austrian painters History painters Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Religious artists

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links