Johann Evangelist Holzer

Who was Johann Evangelist Holzer?

Johann Evangelist Holzer was an Austrian-German painter.

Holzer was born in Burgeis, Mals, in the Vinschgau Valley of South Tyrol, as the son of a miller. He was sent to undertake a classical course of study at Marienberg Abbey, but wished to study art; a portrait he painted of Johann Baptist Murr, then the abbot of the abbey, convinced his father to yield to his wishes. He studied under Nikolaus Auer and made rapid progress. At the age of 18 he painted the altarpiece of the Marienberg Abbey church, depicting Saint Joseph as patron of the afflicted, ill, and dying. He then went to Straubing, where he learned under Joseph Anton Merz how to paint frescos, which would become the main source of his later fame. He helped Merz paint the frescos of Oberalteich Abbey, and while in Straubing also painted Saint Anthony of Padua for the Franciscan church there.

1738/39 was in the painting of Eichstätt for the high altar of the Schutzengelkirche It is Holzer's largest painting on canvas and impresses through movement, gesture, a dynamic composition, and a sophisticated lighting design. Although there are two pictures signatures of Bergmüller, they will Holzer, assigned by the archives occupied painter of the high altar painting.