Person

Weiss, Johann (1794-29.04.1861)

Austrian medalist and die- engraver.

Coin and medal engraver at the k.k. Hauptmünzamt (Imperial an Royal Central Mint) in Vienna under Ferdinand I.

In 1819 he was awarded one of the four imperial medal engraver scholarships, alongside Joseph Daniel Böhm. Weiss was thus able to continue attending courses at the Academy of Fine Arts and additionally arrived in Rome for two years as an academic pensioner. Alongside Heuberger, he was appointed the second Chamber Medal Engraver Scholar in 1825 and remained in this position until 1841. From 1831 to 1833 he spent two years in Rome, where he worked in Bertel Thorvaldsen's sculpture studio. The portrait of Emperor Franz II (I) engraved by Weiss during his work as a coin die engraver was adopted for all coins. In 1854 Weiss took over the cataloguing and compilation of the historical collection of dies at the viennese mint. In 1856 he advanced to the position of third engraver there and finally became second coin and medal engraver in 1858. He created portrait plaques on the occasion of Ferdinand's marriage to Maria Anna of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1831; together with Joseph Daniel Böhm he worked on the official medals of merit under Emperor Ferdinand I (from 1835).

Lit.: A. Mayr, Kaiser Ferdinand I. (1793-1875) und die Medaille. Die Medaillenproduktion am Hauptmünzamt in Wien zwischen 1835 und 1848 in kunsthistorischem und historischem Kontext, unpubl. phil. Diss. Vienna (2020) pp. 265-266; E. Fiala - J. Müller - J. Raudnitz, Katalog der Münz- und Medaillenstempelsammlung im Münzkabinett des Kunsthistorischen Museum Wien IV (1906) pp. 1363-1364; B. Koch, Biographische Beiträge zur Geschichte der Wiener Münzstempelschneider und Medailleure, Numismatische Zeitschrift 82, 1967, pp. 53-85; L. Forrer, Biographical Dictionary of Medallists VI (1916) pp. 428-429.

https://d-nb.info/gnd/1207796018

http://viaf.org/viaf/850158675982127500006

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q95353883

https://ikmk.smb.museum/ndp/person/13376