Joseph Werner
Born in 1637.
Died in 1710.
Joseph Werner is documented as a painter specialising in miniature and as a maker of small-scale history paintings, although he also worked in oil.
His reputation spread throughout Europe, and he was called to the court of Louis XIV, where he executed several portraits of the king and composed allegorical subjects.
Trained by his father and by Matthieu Merian, he established a school in his home in Bern to instruct young people in the arts. Anna Waser is among the pupils attributed to him.
For courtly patrons and connoisseurs such as Quinault, he painted allegorical and small-scale compositions — among them, the notice cites the Muses sur le Parnasse, Diane, Flore, La Mort de Didon, Artémise and Cadmus vainqueur du dragon. In addition to his miniatures, he produced paintings for princely commissions, combining portraiture and allegory.
Upon his return to Germany, he married Susanne Meyer in Augsburg in 1667 and was employed by the Archduchess of Bavaria for seven paintings representing the Vie de la Vierge. For the Elector of Bavaria, he notably executed a Triomphe de Thétis intended for a ceiling at Nymphenburg Palace.
In Bern, he painted for the town hall a large allegorical painting showing the city protected by bears and surrounded by Faith and Prosperity. Among the oil paintings mentioned in the notice is Adam et Ève dans le paradis terrestre, indicated as being preserved in Basel.
