Joseph Hornung

He trained in Geneva and then in Paris, where he studied under Antoine-Jean Gros; upon returning to his native city, he exhibited at the Musée Rath from 1826 onwards. His historical oeuvre drew in particular on the history of the Reformation and on Geneva’s founding narratives. Paintings devoted to John Calvin attest to this orientation, while the diptych preserved at Chillon Castle evokes the captivity of François Bonivard.

Hornung also participated in Geneva’s civic life: from 1836, he sat in the cantonal legislature, first on the Representative Council and then on the Grand Council. This dual presence in the artistic world and in political institutions situates his activity within Geneva’s nineteenth-century public culture. He also practised lithography, notably for portraits and scenes of current events.

Heritage sources identify several artists from the Hornung family; the dates and works mentioned here refer to the Genevan painter born in 1792. The Chillon diptych and the scenes from Reformation history reveal two facets of his history painting, oriented both towards local memory and towards the episodes that shaped Geneva’s civic identity.