Johann Justin
Preißler

Formerly buried in St. John's Cemetery, epitaph no longer exists.

Son of Johann Daniel, painter. Married August 5, 1738, to Susanna Maria, daughter of Christoph Dorsch, heraldic and gem cutter, widow of Count Salomon, painter. A pupil of his father, he began studying at the age of 15 under Johann Martin Schuster at the Nuremberg Academy of Fine Arts, which was directed by his father.

In 1724, he traveled to Venice as a companion of a Mr. Creuzenach, where he studied Italian High Renaissance and Baroque painting, attended the Venetian Academy of Fine Arts, and studied under Giambattista Piazzetta. In 1727, he went to Rome, traveled to Naples with Mr. von Imhoff, and took up a position with Baron Philipp von Stosch in Rome for four years. He sketched Stosch's collection of antique gems, busts, and statues and worked on the designs for a gem catalogue that was later printed. In Rome, he attended the French Academy of Fine Arts and sold copies of famous paintings to "lords and cavallieres" (biography). On August 30, 1731, he returned to Nuremberg, bringing with him a collection of over 2,000 impressions of antique gems.

On May 29, 1742, he became director of the Nuremberg Academy of Fine Arts, and on August 29, 1754, he succeeded his deceased brother, Georg Martin, as director of the drawing school. From 1745 to 1763, he painted history paintings, altarpieces, and portraits, engraved architectural and ornamental prints, and also designed illustrations for Endter Bibles.

In 1765, he provided the design for the epitaph of the bookseller Paul Wolfgang Mann, which was created by Johann Dußel the Elder. Panzer recorded approximately 33 portraits of Nuremberg citizens as models for engravings. His collection of 50 casts of antique gems became part of the Academy's teaching material. Panzer also recorded his own portrait. A medal was struck in his honor in 1764. His daughter, Anna Felicitas, married the painter Christoph Johann Sigmund Zwinger on December 6, 1769. Works: "Initials of Drawing," ..., Nuremberg 1766.

For a list of his natural history works, see Ludwig, 1998, pp. 367f.

Museums: Munich, State Museums; Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum; – Museums: Drawings, engravings.

Literature: ADB; Thieme-Becker; Will, GL III, p. 243 and VII, pp. 199–202; Imhoff II, 1782, p. 870; C. G. Müller, 1791, pp. 93, 147, 152, continuation I, p. 36; Roth, 1802; Barock, 1962; Heffels, 1969; Bosl; B. Klesse, in: GNM A, 2000, p. 28;

Stadtlexikon 2000.

Exhibitions: 1942/1; 1954/3; 1980/9.

Exhibitions: 1942/1; 1954/3; 1980/9.

(Quoted from the Nuremberg Artists' Lexicon, edited by Manfred H. Grieb)