Michael Wening

Michael Wening (11 July 1645 – 18 April 1718) was a Bavarian engraver who is known for his many depictions of important places in the Bavaria of his day, including cityscapes and views of stately homes, castles and monasteries.

[1] Wening left Nuremberg in the spring of 1668, and is first mentioned in Munich in December 1669, where he applied for work at the court as an engraver.

In 1680 Wening made a copper engraving of the fireworks display for the 18th birthday of Max Emanuel, the Elector of Bavaria.

[1] In January 1696 Wening began work on a four-volume Landesbeschreibung (Description of the State) that would depict all the important places in the Electorate of Bavaria.

[1] The work was published as the Historico-Topographica Descriptio, with a total of 846 engravings of views of cities, towns, monasteries, palaces, castles and manor houses.

[2] Werning's engravings provide a record of buildings that have long disappeared, as well as interesting depictions of town life at the time.

[3] Although he sometimes presented an idealized view of the conditions of the buildings, Wening's pictures were generally very accurate and have great value for the historian of art and architecture.