Johann Franciscus Ermels

1641 Reilkirch, Mosel – 1693 Nuremberg

The painter, draughtsman and etcher, Johann Franz Ermels, was a pupil of the history painter, Johann Hulsmann, in Cologne. Ermels subsequently left for the Netherlands and was apprenticed to Jan Both, under whose influence he turned to landscape painting. In 1660 he settled in Nuremberg, where he was awarded the title of master craftsman in 1661. For a time Ermels worked together with Willem van Bemmel, who was also active in the city, frequently supplying the staffage figures for his landscapes. Ermels’ depictions of architecture and the architectural accessories in his landscapes reveal the inspiration he derived from the works of the painter, Johann Oswald Harms, who also lived in Nuremberg for a few years. Ermels also left a small printed oeuvre.