Matthäus Günther

1705 – 1788

German painter of the Baroque and Rococo era. After basic instruction in Murnau, Matthäus Günther became the pupil and assistant of Cosmas Damian Asam. He had no direct contact with Johann Evangelist Holzer, who was his junior, but he acquired out of his estate various drawings and can be considered his legitimate artistic successor. He was made master in Augsburg in 1731 and subsequently worked as an independent fresco painter. In 55 years he decorated over sixty rooms. His main works were produced in the Benedictine churches at Amorbach and Rott am Inn, the Augustinian Canonical churches at Indersdorf and Rottenbuch, the parish churches at Sterzing, Mittenwald and Oberammergau, and the Great Hall at Sünching castle. Günther worked in Bavaria, Swabia, Franconia and the Tyrol and can be considered as one of the most important representatives of south German fresco painting. He frequently worked with some of the greatest artists of his time, including the architect Johann Michael Fischer and the plasterer Johann Michael Feuchtmayer and his brother Franz Xaver.

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