Asam brothers

After the death of his father in 1711, Cosmas Damian traveled to Rome, sponsored by the abbot of Tegernsee, in order to receive further education there.

The works of Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini made a profound impression on Cosmas Damian, and in 1713 he received the first prize of the Accademia di San Luca in the presence of the Pope.

While the frescoes and stucco-works executed by the brothers in Bamberg were still strongly characterized by a certain illusionism, they achieved in later works, such as those in Weingarten Abbey, a uniform interplay of individual elements that provided a stage-like setting for the Baroque church service.

According to the criteria of the late Baroque period, they succeeded in bringing together painting, sculpture, light, space, and architecture into a unified total work of art.

This late work, wedged into an exceedingly small space and built without commission, served as a private chapel for the Asam brothers.