Name of Monument:

Former residence of the painter family Zeiller

Location:

Reutte, Tyrol, Austria

Date:

The house with a gable-end façade was built in the 16th century and subsequently altered numerous times. The Late Rococo façade paintings originate from the period around 1770/75

Artists:

Façade paintings, attributed to: Franz Anton Zeiller (1716–1794) or Johann Jakob Zeiller (1708–1783)

Denomination / Type of monument:

Secular architecture (residential building)

Patron(s):

Family of painters, Zeiller

History:

The Zeiller House, also called “Schönes Haus”, was erected in the 16th century. It is situated in the north of Reutte on the so-called “Untermarkt” (Lower Market). It survived the major fires of 1703/04. Paul Zeiller (1658–1738), the father of Johann Jakob and founder of the Außerfern school of painting had his workshop here. On the south side of the building fragments of paintings are preserved which date from around 1600. The façade paintings on the other sides originate from around 1770/75 and are either the work of Johann Jakob or his nephew Franz Anton Zeiller.

Description:

The paintings adorning the Zeiller House, in which Johann Jakob Zeiller had his home and workshop, are closer stylistically to the work of his cousin Franz Anton which is why they are usually attributed to the latter. It is an especially rich example of the “Lüftlmalerei” common in Außenfern. As Außenfern belonged to the diocese of Augsburg, the stylistic sources as well as pictorial models are primarily to be sought there. The special features of the paintings on the Zeiller House are their virtuoso composition featuring religious and profane motifs and exoticisms.

The most famous of the numerous residential houses with façade paintings in Lechtal, Tyrol, was the home of the famous family of painters Zeiller. The façades of the elongated house are decorated on three sides with “Lüftlmalerei” (outside paintings), with the especially richly decorated gable end with bay window forming the main visible face. A very pretty example of the artistic self-presentation of this period.

How Monument was dated:

Comparison of styles

Special features

Main façade

Exterior, east side

1770/75

Franz Anton Zeiller (1716–1794)

The end side facing the Untermarkt is the magnificently decorated main façade of the house with a central bay window. Architecture paintings form the structure and frame for the images. At the bay window the central motifs are presented, in the middle below the window the Mary Help picture from Innsbruck carried by putti, above it God the Father and the Holy Ghost. On the side walls further putti are depicted playing with a wind wheel and bird cage, while the putti to the side of the bay window present the Tablets of the Law with the Ten Commandments, the Cross of Christ and a chalice. The gable zone features a peacock. The overall appearance is primarily a result of the virtuoso rocaille frames around the windows. Cornice and gable, both painted, form the upper termination.

Northern side façade

Exterior, north side

1770/75

Franz Anton Zeiller (1716–1794)

Religious motifs are no longer to be found on the side façades instead they are completely devoted to the amusement of the viewer. While the south side features a false window with a woman looking out, the north side is largely decorated with exotic animals in accordance with the fashion of the time. Three monkeys are sitting on the cornice with a basket of fruit, above them a parrot on a stick and a cat at the other end of the cornice.

Selected bibliography:

Baur-Heinhold, Margarete, Süddeutsche Fassadenmalerei vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Munich 1952, pp. 114–18.

Citation of this web page:

Frank Purrmann "Former residence of the painter family Zeiller" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;at;Mon11;17;en

Prepared by: Frank Purrmann
Translation by: Colin Shepherd
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: AT 17