Austrian painter, draughtsman and printmaker. Through his fresco-work and his draughtsmanship, which adapt a vast range of Italian influences, as well as his teaching, he is one of the foremost figures of 18th-century Austrian art. After a long study-tour to Italy he became the favourite fresco painter of the Lower Austrian monasteries. In 1754-57 he became the rector of the Academy in Vienna and he influenced many important painters of the next generation, such as Maulbertsch and Mildorfer.