Johann Heinrich Schönfeld

Johann Heinrich Schönfeld(1609–1684) was a German painter in theBaroquestyle.

He was the son of Johann Baptist Schönfeld (?-1635); agoldsmith. From birth, he was blind in his left eye and could only use his right hand for simple tasks, so he was not trained as a goldsmith, as would have otherwise been the case. Instead, he received lessons in painting fromCaspar Sichelbein[de]inMemmingen. Later, he took study trips toStuttgartandBasel.

In 1633, at the height of theThirty Years' War, he fled to Italy. Originally, he lived in Rome, then moved to Naples around 1649. After a brief stay inDresdenhe returned home in 1651. The following year, in Pfuhl (nearUlm) he married Anna Elisabetha Strauß. They had eight children together. Shortly after their marriage, they moved toAugsburg, where he became a citizen and a member of the Master's Guild.[1]

In the following years, he created many church paintings; notably atWürzburg Cathedral, where he painted Christ carrying the Cross and a likeness of SaintLeonard of Noblac. Both paintings burned during thebombing of Würzburg in World War II.[2]In addition to religious works, he painted mythological andgenrescenes.

One of his best-known students wasJohann Schmidtner.

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Heinrich_Schönfeld