Luigi Pichler

Intaglio of the Head of Athena, Walters Art Museum

Luigi Pichler (January 31, 1773 in Rome March 13, 1854 in ibid.) was a German-Italian artist in engraved gems.

Son of Anton Pichler and half-brother and student of Giovanni Pichler, Luigi was an apprentice to his greatly renowned 39-year older brother and painter Domenico de Angelis.[1] He travelled to Vienna, where he, in 1818, was made professor of gem-engraving at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts,[1] and where he, working for Francis I, created replicas of some of the most famous gems in Austria as part of the Vienna Cabinet,[2] a gift for Pope Pius VII. His works are almost exclusively intaglio, and he created many copies of his brother's and father's work.[2] In 1850 he turned back to Rome, where he died in 1854.

His works include a head of Ajax, the gods Apollo, Mars, Venus, Cupid, and Psyche, a head of Julius Cæsar; as well as two heads of Jesus.[2]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Grove Encyclopaedia of Decorative Arts.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Handley, Marie Louise. "Pichler." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. .