Asam, Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin

Asam, Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin

 

Cosmas was born Sept. 28, 1686, in Benediktbeuern; died May 10, 1739, in Munich. Egid was born Sept. 1, 1692, in Tegern-see; died Apr. 29, 1750, in Mannheim. German painters, sculptors, and architects; representatives of the baroque style.

The Asam brothers studied in Rome (1712–14); they worked mainly in Bavaria, finishing church interiors in Rohr (1717–23) and in Freising (1723) and constructing the Benedictine monastery church in Weltenburg (1716–21) and the St. Johann Nepomuk Church in Munich (begun in 1733). The artistic versatility of the Asam brothers enabled them to solve the problem of the lush decoration of baroque interiors in a masterful way; they achieved an organic fusion of various forms of art. The work of the Asam brothers is one of the extreme manifestations of the dramatic dynamics of the baroque style, in which are combined religious exaltation and theatrical pathos.

REFERENCE

Hanfstaengl, E. Die Brüder Cosmas Damian und Egid Quirin Asam. Munich, 1955.

V. A. LEBEDEV