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Franz Xaver Messerschmidt

Born: near Ulm, Germany, 6 February 1736
Died: Bratislava, Slovakia (then Pozsony, Hungary), 19 August 1783
Nationality: Austrian
Background: 

family of sculptors and carpenters

Studies: 

Academy in Vienna (1755-c.1760)

Career: 

1769-74 - Academy member and professor 

1775-77 – Munich (court)

1777-83 - Bratislava

Travels

Rome (1765)

Commissions from: 

Austrian court

Important Artworks: 

Maria Theresa, 1764-66 (Belvedere Museum, Vienna)

Character Heads (self-portraits), 1770-83 (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)

A Hypochondriac, after 1770 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)