Paul Troger (1698–1762)

• Troger was an Austrian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.

• Paul Troger’s style, particularly in his frescoes, dominated Austrian painting until the end of the 18th century.

• Paul Troger was born on 30 October 1698 in Welsberg.

• At the age of 16, under the patronage of the aristocratic Tyrolean von Firmian family, he visited Fiume and became a pupil of Giuseppe Alberti.

• He painted his first fresco “Three Angels with the Cross and Putti”, in the Kalvarienkirche, Kaltern (1722). 

• In 1722, the prince-bishop of Gurk sent Paul Troger to Venice, where he discovered the works of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, and Giovanni Battista Pittoni.

• Troger also studied in Rome with Sebastiano Ricci, in Naples with Francesco Solimena and in Bologna.

• On his return to Austria, Troger first worked in Salzburg from 1726 to 1728, where he painted the "Glory of Saint Cajetan" on the ceiling of St. Cajetan’s Church, Salzburg (1728). 

• He afterwards established himself in Vienna.

• Paul Troger became the favourite fresco painter in Lower Austrian monasteries in collaboration with the architect Josef Munggenast.

• In 1753, he joined the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts.

• Troger became professor and was made director of the Imperial Academy in 1754.

• His most prominent student was Franz Anton Maulbertsch.

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