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Ridinger, Johann Elias
(b Ulm, 16 Feb 1698; d Augsburg, 10 April 1767). German painter, engraver, draughtsman and publisher. He started his training in 1712 with the Ulm painter Christoph Resch ( fl 1701–16), deriving his knowledge of drawing from Joachim von Sandrart’s Teutsche Academie (1675–9). He went to Augsburg c. 1716 and attached himself to Johann Falch (1687–1727), under whom he produced depictions of animals, above all horses, as well as copies of earlier masters. On the invitation of Wolf, Freiherr von Metternich ( fl 1706–31), he spent three years in Regensburg: his coursing and visits to the riding school there proved decisive for his development. Returning to Augsburg, he learnt engraving and etching from Georg Philipp Rugendas (i) and after 1723 founded an art publishing house, selling prints that he himself designed and engraved. Apart from series on hunting, definitions of breeds of horses and illustrated lessons for riding and war-horses, there are depictions of wild animals and of zoological abnormalities. Some 1600 engraved, etched and scratched sheets show the animals in characteristic movements and positions in a landscape environment. They are by nature monumental, while their partly ornamental movements show Rococo stylistic tendencies. In 1759 Ridinger became director of the Augsburg Stadtakademie. After his death his sons Martin Elias Ridinger (1730–80) and Johann Jakob Ridinger (1736–84) continued to run the publishing house. The frequent reprints of his most popular series until well into the 19th century bear witness to the high esteem in which his work was held, as does their adaptation to other media, such as wall decoration, porcelain and ceramics.
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