Joseph Roos

Joseph Roos, born in Vienna on October 9, 1726 and died there on August 25, 1805, was an outstanding Austrian painter who exerted a significant influence during his career, particularly in Dresden, Germany.

Joseph Roos’ artistic talent was shaped by his family heritage, as his great-grandfather was the respected painter Johann Heinrich Roos (1631-1685) and his grandfather Philipp Peter Roos (1651-1705). His father, Cajetan Roos (1690-1770), who was also known as “Gaetano Rosa”, taught him and imparted valuable knowledge of painting. After his training in Vienna, Joseph Roos moved to Dresden at the age of 21, where he worked as a decorative painter under the guidance of Giuseppe Galli da Bibiena.

During his stay in Dresden, Roos was significantly involved in the restoration of the opera house in the Zwinger, first in 1749-1750 and later in its redesign in 1753 under the direction of Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni (1695-1766). Unfortunately, no evidence of this work has survived due to an opera house fire in 1849.

In the meantime, Roos spent some time in Berlin, where he created six remarkable drawings, which are now kept in the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett.

From 1758, Joseph Roos settled permanently in Dresden, where he worked as a court painter and teacher. When the Academy was founded in Dresden in 1764, he was appointed a member of this renowned institution and taught landscape painting. One year later, he became professor of landscape painting.

Despite his remarkable artistic and pedagogical achievements in Dresden, irreconcilable differences of opinion arose between Joseph Roos and his colleague at the academy, Giovanni Battista Casanova, in which even their pupils were involved. This led to Roos moving to Vienna in 1769, where he accepted the position of director of the Imperial Picture Gallery and continued to make an important contribution to the world of art. His artistic legacy and his important role in the history of art are still valued and appreciated today.