17th and 18th Century Painters from Višnja Gora, their Social Environment and Commissioners. Franz Karl (Francesco) Faenzi, Franz Faenzi, Johann Jakob Menhard (Mönhardt), Jakob Killer, Karl Ludwig Gentilli, Peter Straspurger, Franz Anton Nirenberger, Fran

Abstract

The paper analyses nine painters attested in Višnja Gora from 1644 to 1790. With the exception of two, all of the others were related, even though in only two cases were there two generations; a father and son in the Faenzi family in the 17th century, and a father and two sons in the Nirenberger family in the 18th century. Other family ties were created by marriage and two weddings to the painters’ widows.

The painters working in Višnja Gora were not highquality artists of their time, not even within Carniolan regional standards. The works of four of them are not preserved or have not been identified. The work of the oldest among them, Francesco Faenzi, is known only through written sources, while two gilded altars by Johann Jakob Menhard are preserved, and several works are also known by Anton Nirenberger who worked in Upper Carniola. All these painters were surpassed in quantity and quality by Franz Anton Nirenberger, whose paintings and the gildings of altars can be found in a wide geographical area of Carniola. He can be considered one of the better painters whose paintings followed the artistic development of the late Baroque. The paper also analyses the painters’ financial situation and their integration in their social environment.