Jephthah meeting his daughter
Franz Thaddäus Menteler the Elder (1712 - 1789), Zug (Switzerland).
Glass panel painted on reverse in transparent pigments. Retouches to the lower third of the image. Gilded softwood frame, H 62.7, W 51 cm.
This work was based on a sheet by the engraver Johann Wagner (1706 - 1780), active in Venice, after the painter Jacopo Amigoni.
The reverse glass painting belongs to a series of large format works depicting scenes from the Old Testament. Georg Staffelbach was able to track down over 60 such works in various cloisters and private collections throughout Switzerland. Ryser surmises that Franz Thaddäus Menteler the Elder, who was born in Zug, initially trained as a painter under his father, learnt the reverse glass technique in Sursee/Beromünster. He generally based his works on engravings and signed many of them, often on the backing paper.
This rare depiction is derived from a story in the book of Judges in which the General Jephthah promises to sacrifice the first living thing to emerge from the door of his house upon his triumphant return after defeating the Ammonites. Unfortunately, he was greeted upon arrival by his only child, who danced for joy upon seeing her father's return.
Provenance
Lois Ruckli, goldsmith, Lucerne.
Eduard Renggli, glass painter, Lucerne.
Literature
Illus. in Staffelbach, Geschichte der Luzerner Hinterglasmalerei von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart, Lucerne 1951, pl. 141, illus. 282, p. 220.
For this artist see Ryser, Verzauberte Bilder. Die Kunst der Malerei hinter Glas, Munich 1991, p. 153 ff.