Giuseppe Hyzler

Self-portrait of Giuseppe Hyzler in Nazarene attire
Madonna of the Rosary (St. Dominic Church, Valletta)

Giuseppe Hyzler (1787 – 19 January 1858[1]) was a Maltese painter.

Born in Malta with a German background, he was awarded a scholarship by the Governor of Malta, Sir Thomas Maitland, in 1814, to pursue his artistic education in Rome.[1] There Hyzler joined the Nazarene movement, led by Friedrich Overbeck, to whom his brother Vincenzo Hyzler (1813-1849) had grown close. The Nazarenes lived in a community near Rome, wearing black dresses and long hair. They deemed sacred art as the highest cultural expression; in particular 14th-15th century frescoes. After the community dissolved, Giuseppe Hyzler returned to Malta in 1823, where he opened a private art school.[2] He taught Amedeo Preziosi among others.

Hyzler was responsible for removing some Baroque art from Saint John's Co-Cathedral, including the ornate altar in the Chapel of the Langue of France.[3]

By the mid-19th century, he was considered one of Malta's most accomplished painters. He was a representative of Neoclassicist and Academic style, until the artistic scene was revolutionized by Romanticism, as practiced by Giuseppe Calì. In 1953, Edward Sammut remarked that "Their paintings are noted for the cold academism of the drawing and the rather forced classical poses of their figures."[4]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference cutajar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Giuseppe Theuma, Iconography in Malta Churches
  3. ^ "St.John's Co-Cathedral" (PDF). National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. 28 December 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016.
  4. ^ Edward Sammut, Art in Malta, 1953