FRIES, JOHANN. - Painter, b. in Fribourg ca. 1465, d. perhaps in Bern in 1518. He is one of the greatest Swiss artists, and his painting, still entirely turned toward the expressionistic forms proper to the late Gothic, can be understood as the meeting point of new stylistic elements from northern Italy and German ones, with the latter predominating, especially in the earlier works.

In Switzerland F. is also particularly appreciated because in the background of his compositions there sometimes appear landscape elements plausibly inspired by reality, for which reason he is considered one of the first interpreters of the local landscape. Among his works are remembered two panels in the Gallery of Schleissheim coming from a large Last Judgment painted for the council hall in Fribourg, in which city F. had worked in the church of St. John an altarpiece with scenes from the life of the Saint. Other works of his are in the Museums of Basel, Zurich, Nuremberg, etc.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: P. Ganz, Malerei der Fröhrennis, in d. Schweiz, Zurich 1924, pp. 138-44; A. Kelterberg-Hämmerli, Die Kunst d. H. F., (Strasbourg 1927.

Emilio Lavarino

@incollection{ec5_fries_johann, author = {Lavagnino, Emilio}, title = {Fries, johann}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {1777}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/fries-johann} }

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Fries, Johann

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