Schmu(t)zer

Schmu(t)zer. Important Bavarian family of architects and workers in stucco from Wessobrunn. Joseph (1683–1752) built the Wandpfeiler Heiligenkreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross), Donauwörth (1717–22), and the Parish-Church at Oberammergau (1735–42), and collaborated with his son, Franz Xaver (1713–75), on the exquisite Rococo stucco decorations at Rottenbuch (1737–50) and Ettal (1744–52), among other places. F. A. Schmu(t)zer also worked at Weingarten Abbey, Mittenwald, and Oberammergau, and evolved a style using many cartouches and C-scrolls with great verve and élan. Joseph's father, Johann (1642–1701), worked at Wessobrunn Abbey and its many affiliated churches: he designed the Pilgrimage-Church at Vilgertshofen (1686–92), and worked at numerous other sites. Johann's son, Franz Xaver (1676–1741), was a renowned stuccoist, and worked at Obermarchtal, Weissenau, and Steingaden, etc. The family was one of many groups in the area who created astonishingly lovely things in the first half of C18.

Bibliography

Bourke (1962);
Dischinger (1977);
Hauttmann (1921);
Hitchcock (1968a);
C. Powell (1959);
Jane Turner (1996)