"S. Ioannes de Deo Fundator FF Misericordiae"
Circle of the Spengler family of painters, Eastern Switzerland / Lake Constance, mid-18th C.
Glass panel painted on reverse in eglomisé technique with gold and silver leaf and opaque and transparent pigments, two gouache on paper appliques. Retouches to the blue. Frame engraved and gilded over red bole, H 30, W 23.1 cm.
The subject of this painting is Saint John of God (1495 - 1550) in his Spanish hometown of Juan Ciudad. John of God is considered to be the founder of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, which was recognised as a holy order by Pope Pius V in 1571. His works are illustrated in the small drawings applied to the lower margin of the work. The brothers of his order founded and ran hospitals and pharmacies.
The motif may have been based on a sheet by the engraver Franz Xaver Jungwirth (1720 - 1790) from Munich, who in turn based his work on a composition by the Baling painter Josef Weiß (1487/88 - 1565). The angels preparing medicine in the upper left and the sick beds beneath clouds were removed from the composition and replaced by the paper appliques.
Literature
Illus. in Steiner, ... eine andere Art von Malerey. Hinterglasgemälde und ihre Vorlagen 1550 - 1850, Berlin-Munich 2012, illus. 161.
Illus. in Steiner, Goldglanz und Silberpracht – Hinterglasmalerei aus vier Jahrhunderten, Berlin-Munich 2015, no. 44.
Exhibitions
2005 - 2006 "Eleganz in Glanz", Barockmuseum Salzburg.
2012 Schaezlerpalais der Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg.
2015 Schaezlerpalais der Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg.