Joseph Christ
BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG 1732 – 1788 AUGSBURG
Saint Michael the Archangel
Brush and black ink with gray wash, on laid paper and incised for transfer; the verso rubbed with red chalk
6 11/16 x 5 3/16 inches (irregular) (169.86 x 131.76 mm. ) Sold
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the city of Augsburg was one of the centers of European print production. Indeed, German scholar Dr. Johann Roger Paas (Carleton College) coined the sobriquet ‘Europe’s image factory’ [1] to convey the sheer size and scope of the city’s print endeavors. Religious themes and figures were common subject matter for Augsburg artists, who worked closely with local publishers to create designs for printed images and book illustrations.
Joseph Christ, one of the leading figures of the Augsburg school, was admitted to the Vienna Academy in 1752. In 1759, he married the widow of copper engraver R. Störklin, who was the daughter of Aegid Verhelst, master craftsman and sculptor. Christ painted various churches within the Augsburg diocese, including: Steinekirch (1760), Ettenbeuren (1766), Langerringen (1768/70), Dinkelscherben (1770/71) [2]. His famous Augsburg facade paintings have all been lost, only one of the ceiling frescos has been preserved in the former Schaezler garden property palace. Christ also created numerous drawings of various saints for copper engravings produced by Augsburg publishers.
A comparable drawing of Saint Sebastian is preserved at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Both drawings feature small-scale figures in the boarders and share the delicate pen strokes which comprise the rocaille border. It is very likely that our drawing and the National Gallery’s Saint Sebastian were intended for the same project, which remains a mystery.
[1] Augsburg, die Bilderfabrik Europas: Essays zur Augsburger Druckgraphik der Frühen Neuzeit, ed. by John Roger Paas, Augsburg 2001.
[2] Krämer, Dr. Gode. “Stadtlexikon Augsburg.” Wißner-Verlag - Bücher Über Augsburg, Schwaben, Musik, Aug. 2021, www.wissner.com/stadtlexikon- augsburg/artikel/stadtlexikon/christ/3486.