born Berlin, 1693
died Nürnberg, 01. May 1744
Born in Berlin, he spent his early years there. With his father, who last worked as a fountain maker in Charlottenburg, he received lessons in mathematical sciences and certainly also his first training in drawing. After his father's early death, his family's economic situation and thus his further development were threatened by want and hardship. He committed a few petty thefts and in his 17th year was sent by his relatives to a reformatory from which he escaped after six months. He began his wanderings which took him through Silesia, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Austria and Poland. He used his artistic talents and skills to make money. Time and again, he succeeded in obtaining donations from monasteries by using forged documents and letters of recommendation. Until his series of frauds in Gräfenberg near Nuremberg came to light in 1721. After pre-trial detention in the Nuremberg hole prison, he was sent to the tower prison on the Luginsland. From 1731 onwards, he spent the years until his death in 1744 in the men's prison on the island of Schütt. During his imprisonment in Nuremberg, he worked as a "secret" scribe and copyist for the city to earn a living. This mostly involved making copies of older maps. In addition, he was able to improve his supplies in prison through private commissions. The quodlibets he preserved prove his mastery like a "pattern sheet" and spread his entire artistic skill before us.
Theo Noll
Style: Baroque