Joseph Werner

Joseph Werner, called Joseph Werner, the Younger ( born June 22, 1637 Bern, Switzerland, † September 21, 1710 ) was a Swiss miniature painter, engraver and painter of the Baroque.

Life

He trained first with his father, the less well-known painter Joseph Werner ( the Elder ) and then in Frankfurt am Main in Matthäus Merian the Younger ( 1621-1687 ). To around 1654 he went to Rome, where he copied paintings by Pietro da Cortona and Andrea Sacchi and made ​​a name as a painter of miniatures and allegories. Immediately he was invited to many important royal courts of Europe, to accept commissions.

Werner was appointed by Louis XIV to his court of Versailles as well as to Paris, where he continued his work as a portraitist. Later he was in Augsburg, worked among others for the Fugger and married in 1667 his colleague, artist Anna Maria, the sister of the Augsburg painter Johann Ulrich Mayer ( 1630-1704 ). In Augsburg, Werner created in 1680 allegory for the wedding occasion of the marriage of the Grand Dauphin of France, Louis of France with Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria. Later he was active in Vienna, Berlin and again in his home town of Bern.

Werner portrayed his models like as gods and goddesses, as well as his well-known portrait of Therese Cunegond of Poland as a hunting goddess Diana. From Louis XIV, he produced, among other things, a portrait as Apollo in chariot. In addition to his allegorical portraits painted Werner purely mythological miniature scenes.

Works ( small selection )

• Therese Cunegond of Poland as Diana
• Two Bachantinnen
• Louis XIV in national costume
• Mademoiselle de la Valliere in national costume
• " Allegory for marriage "
• Pygmalion, about 1662, gouache on vellum, 18.9 x 13.4 cm, Staatliche Museen Kassel, inv. No. GS 12666