DOI issue:
Nr. 1
DOI article:Artykuły
DOI article:Dettloff, Paweł: Jan Neinderffer krakowski twórca rokokowych malowideł ¬ściennych
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71008#0093
Jan Neinderffer - krakowski twórca rokokowych malowideł ściennych
91
Jan Neinderffer: Kraków s Author of Rococo Murals
The name of Jan Neinderffer has been mentioned in
academic literature for over a century. He was
recorded in Kraków (its archival records) from 1756
as a guild painter (d. 1776). His birth date and place
remain unknown, though the preserved records
allow to assume he came from Moravia. His oeuvre
has been very poorly studied, since the majority of
his works mentioned in the written records have not
survived. The only known and confirmed in archives
work of the artist are his frescoes in the Wojnicz
Collegiate Church (1767). Regrettably, the extent of
their restoration and reconstruction makes one
cautious about treating that set as a fully credible
testimony to the painter's output. In the article a
presentation is made of the previously unknown
examples of murals in Kraków, or the ones previously
not associated with Neinderffer. The first of them is
the painterly decor of the Chapel of John the Baptist
in the Prądnik Czerwony District in Kraków. In the
course of some conservation works on that painting
decoration a partially preserved inscription, including
the author's signature and date, was found. It allows
to decipher the name of Jan S. Neinderffer and the
year 1761. Additionally, this attribution is confirmed
by the paintings' form analysis, including the
perceptible features of the individualistic style to be
found in the Wojnicz Collegiate Church. Another
work that should be attributed to Neinderffer are the
frescoes in the 2nd Sacristy, also called "the treasury"
in the Dominican Church. These too continue to be
little known, with no authorship attribution and no
precise date of execution. They were, however,
executed by the same artist, or possibly the same
studio run by him as the paintings in the (Post-
Dominican Chapel) in Prądnik. Most likely in ca.
1760-62. The basic method allowing for the above
attribution is the analysis of the paintings' form.
So far scholars have pointed out to exuberant
ornaments as Neinderffer's characteristic style
feature. Indeed, the profusion of exquisitely
presented ornament (particularly in Wojnicz and
Prądnik) bestows an extremely decorative character
in his works. Moreover, it seems that the artist
applied Rococo ornament in his own unique way,
slightly differently than other contemporary artists
did, which might truly account for one of his
personalized artistic features. The painter, however,
was not merely a splendid ornamentalist, but he also
coped well, though not always perfectly, with human
figures. He applied very characteristic types of
physiognomy and figure proportions. His basic means
consisted in line applied on the ground with brave
decisive brushstrokes. This drawing-like, occasionally
sketchy manner was a principal component serving to
render not only facial features, but also the remaining
elements. The painter clearly avoided the illusionistic
"Pozzo-like" architecture, so popular at the time.
Neinderffer's painting is not fully, strictly
speaking, Rococo, since in certain solutions it
remains faithful to the tradition of late Baroque.
Nonetheless, a free way ofpainting, with a clear focus
on the drawing manner, a certain way of making space
shallow, a light, pastel colour range, and finally an
overall impression of great decorativeness, enhanced
with the multiplicity of ornaments, which are
manifested in the presented works allow to rank
Neinderffer among Rococo mural painters.
Jan Neinderffer was one of the many immigrant
artists active on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth. In the 18th century, a particular role
was played by painters arriving from other Empire
territories: Austria, Bohemia, and particularly
Moravia. The latter dominated a large section of
Polish territories, mainly the Kraków centre. Jan
Neinderffer launched his major artistic activity in
Kraków in the early 1760s, after the elder generation
of local and foreign artists had died out. He
successfully replaced them in executing impressive
painterly decors of sacral interiors. This was his
means to continue the activity of Moravian artists
who had dominated the Kraków mural painting in
the 18th century. The Post-Dominican Chapel
paintings in the Prądnik District are likely to rank
among the first works of the artist in Kraków.
Translated by Magdalena Iwińska
91
Jan Neinderffer: Kraków s Author of Rococo Murals
The name of Jan Neinderffer has been mentioned in
academic literature for over a century. He was
recorded in Kraków (its archival records) from 1756
as a guild painter (d. 1776). His birth date and place
remain unknown, though the preserved records
allow to assume he came from Moravia. His oeuvre
has been very poorly studied, since the majority of
his works mentioned in the written records have not
survived. The only known and confirmed in archives
work of the artist are his frescoes in the Wojnicz
Collegiate Church (1767). Regrettably, the extent of
their restoration and reconstruction makes one
cautious about treating that set as a fully credible
testimony to the painter's output. In the article a
presentation is made of the previously unknown
examples of murals in Kraków, or the ones previously
not associated with Neinderffer. The first of them is
the painterly decor of the Chapel of John the Baptist
in the Prądnik Czerwony District in Kraków. In the
course of some conservation works on that painting
decoration a partially preserved inscription, including
the author's signature and date, was found. It allows
to decipher the name of Jan S. Neinderffer and the
year 1761. Additionally, this attribution is confirmed
by the paintings' form analysis, including the
perceptible features of the individualistic style to be
found in the Wojnicz Collegiate Church. Another
work that should be attributed to Neinderffer are the
frescoes in the 2nd Sacristy, also called "the treasury"
in the Dominican Church. These too continue to be
little known, with no authorship attribution and no
precise date of execution. They were, however,
executed by the same artist, or possibly the same
studio run by him as the paintings in the (Post-
Dominican Chapel) in Prądnik. Most likely in ca.
1760-62. The basic method allowing for the above
attribution is the analysis of the paintings' form.
So far scholars have pointed out to exuberant
ornaments as Neinderffer's characteristic style
feature. Indeed, the profusion of exquisitely
presented ornament (particularly in Wojnicz and
Prądnik) bestows an extremely decorative character
in his works. Moreover, it seems that the artist
applied Rococo ornament in his own unique way,
slightly differently than other contemporary artists
did, which might truly account for one of his
personalized artistic features. The painter, however,
was not merely a splendid ornamentalist, but he also
coped well, though not always perfectly, with human
figures. He applied very characteristic types of
physiognomy and figure proportions. His basic means
consisted in line applied on the ground with brave
decisive brushstrokes. This drawing-like, occasionally
sketchy manner was a principal component serving to
render not only facial features, but also the remaining
elements. The painter clearly avoided the illusionistic
"Pozzo-like" architecture, so popular at the time.
Neinderffer's painting is not fully, strictly
speaking, Rococo, since in certain solutions it
remains faithful to the tradition of late Baroque.
Nonetheless, a free way ofpainting, with a clear focus
on the drawing manner, a certain way of making space
shallow, a light, pastel colour range, and finally an
overall impression of great decorativeness, enhanced
with the multiplicity of ornaments, which are
manifested in the presented works allow to rank
Neinderffer among Rococo mural painters.
Jan Neinderffer was one of the many immigrant
artists active on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth. In the 18th century, a particular role
was played by painters arriving from other Empire
territories: Austria, Bohemia, and particularly
Moravia. The latter dominated a large section of
Polish territories, mainly the Kraków centre. Jan
Neinderffer launched his major artistic activity in
Kraków in the early 1760s, after the elder generation
of local and foreign artists had died out. He
successfully replaced them in executing impressive
painterly decors of sacral interiors. This was his
means to continue the activity of Moravian artists
who had dominated the Kraków mural painting in
the 18th century. The Post-Dominican Chapel
paintings in the Prądnik District are likely to rank
among the first works of the artist in Kraków.
Translated by Magdalena Iwińska