Johann Theodor Wehrenfennig, Pastor at Goisern, Lithograph by Joseph Bauer, 1855

An original antique lithograph portrait of the Austrian Protestant pastor Johann Theodor Wehrenfennig, drawn on stone by Joseph Bauer in 1855 after a painting by P. Koerle and printed by J. Rauh's lithographic institute in Vienna.

Wehrenfennig is shown at half length, turned slightly to the left, a broad shouldered man with short dark hair, side whiskers and a calm, direct gaze. He wears a white cravat tied in a soft bow, a patterned waistcoat buttoned high and a heavy dark frock coat. Bauer's drawing is broad and painterly, with rich blacks in the coat and a delicate modeling of the face, and the figure fades into a soft vignette.

The stone is signed at lower left "Jos. Bauer 1855" within a flourish, lettered at lower right "Gem. v. P. Koerle", painted by P. Koerle, and the printer's line "J. Rauh's lith. Kunstanst. in Wien" runs below. A bold facsimile signature, "Wehrenfennig", preceded by an abbreviated first name, fills the foot of the sheet.

Johann Theodor Wehrenfennig was for many years the Protestant pastor of Goisern near Bad Ischl in the Salzkammergut, one of the old Lutheran communities of Upper Austria. He represented his church at the Linz diet of 1848 and at the Vienna synods of 1848 and 1849, was known as a preacher, and was appointed by Emperor Franz Joseph superintendent of the Lutheran church in Upper Austria. Wurzbach's biographical lexicon of the Austrian empire records a lithographed portrait of him by Joseph Bauer, one of the most productive portrait lithographers of Vienna.

A fine Viennese portrait for collectors of Austrian and Protestant church history or of Biedermeier lithography.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.