Iaco Zanusi Januc

Giacomo (or Jacob) Zanusi, born in Ornela, learned the art of painting from Giuseppe Alberti in Val di Fiemme and possibly also in Venice. After his training as a Mahler Prinz, literally painter prince, he worked in the workshop of Martin Schaumberger in Salzburg. The Prince-Bishop of Seckau, Anton Graf Wagenspert, hired Zanusi as a court painter. The artist, who was from Livonia and painted in a typical Northern Italian style with delicate figures and strong color contrasts, received numerous commissions for altar paintings, resulting in up to 240 paintings attributed to him today. Some of his altar paintings can be admired in Arco, Mondsee, Rattenberg, and the pilgrimage church of Maria Kirchental. Zanusi’s most significant work is the altar painting in the parish church of Gnigl, created around 1735.