Asam, Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin

Asam, Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin

(born Sept. 29, 1686, Benediktbeuren, Bavaria—died May 10, 1739, Munich) (born Sept. 1, 1692, Tegernsee, Bavaria—died April 29, 1750, Mannheim, Palatinate) Bavarian architects and decorators. After studying in Rome (1711–13), Cosmas Damian became a prolific fresco painter, and his brother, Egid Quirin, became a sculptor and stuccoist. They developed the effects of dramatic lighting and illusionism originated by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Andrea Pozzo. Working as a team, they produced magnificent illusionistic decoration in ecclesiastical buildings, combining dramatic lighting and colour. Their works are notable for their profound and dramatic intensity of religious feeling. The brothers became the principal late Baroque exponents of illusionist decoration in religious architecture. Their most notable collaboration is the church of St. John Nepomuk in Munich (1733–46)—known as the Asamkirche in honour of the brothers.