Barbara Regina Dietzsch

September 22, 1706 – May 1, 1783

Active in: Germany

Biography

Barbara Regina Dietzsch is best-known for her nature studies and botanical illustrations. Born in Nuremberg, she worked there and in Hamburg for much of her career. Dietzsch came from an artistic family—her father, brother, and sister were artists. She married Nikolaus Christopher Matthes. Dietzsch died in Nuremberg in 1783.

Selected Works

A plant illustration of pale pink and white five-petal flowers on a stem with very dark green oval leaves.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Apple Blossom, ca. 1740. Watercolor and gouache on vellum, 20 in. Colonial Williamsburg, 1990-28,A&B

A plant drawing with one stem that has two medium green leaves and five yellow flowers emerging from it. The flowers have six pointed oval petals, and in the center of each flower is a darker yellow or orange cup-shaped part.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Yellow Narcissus, ca. 1740. Watercolor and gouache on vellum, 14 x 10 in. Colonial Williamsburg, 1987-712,1A&B

A bird with a red face and chest, gray back, and black head and wings is perched on a tree branch with one foot. It has a small, curved black beak and a white stripe on its wing. It is looking back over its shoulder.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Bullfinch, n.d. Watercolor and gouache, 29.2 x 21.2 cm. Rijksmuseum

A greenish-yellow bird is perched on the branch of an evergreen tree, with its head turned skyward. Its body is more green on the head and back, but the stomach, wings, and tail have clear yellow patches. Its beak is small and pointed.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Greenfinch, n.d. Watercolor and gouache, 28.8 x 20.9 cm. Rijksmuseum

A small bird with blue-green feathers on its head, back, and wings and pink feathers on its stomach is perched on an autumn or winter tree branch. The bird has a long, slightly curved, pointed beak and small red feet.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Kingfisher, n.d. Watercolor and gouache, 19.9 x 18.6 cm. Rijksmuseum

A small bird with a white head and rear and an orange and black midsection and wings is on a tree branch with leaves. The mdisection of its body is mostly orange underneath, with areas of black speckles or bands on the back and wings. The bird looks like it has just landed or is just taking off from the branch because its wings are half-open.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Snowbunting, n.d. Watercolor and gouache, 28 x 20.1 cm. Rijksmuseum

A winter scene of a frozen river running through a small town depicts numerous people walking and skating on the surface. Along either bank are small buildings, and in the distance a low mountain range is visible.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Winter View with Ice Games, n.d. Watercolor and gouache, 17.1 x 22.5 cm. Rijksmuseum

A plant illustration showing medium-green irregularly-shaped leaves attached to a brownish stem. At the end of the stem is a fluffy, white, round ball made of individual dandelion seeds.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Dandelion, ca. 1755. Watercolor and gouache on vellum, 29 x 21 cm. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004.147

A painting showing a far-off fire in the distance, along with dark clouds of smoke. In the foreground of the painting, a winding road leads from the viewer's location past fields and a church to reach the town where the fire appears to be taking place.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Fire in a Village, n.d. Watercolor and gouache, 17.7 x 22.8 cm. Rijksmuseum

Continue Exploring

View artist timeline
Selected works

Circle

Daughter of
Johann Israel Dietzsch

Bibliography

A Checklist of Painters ca. 1200–1976 Represented in the Witt Library, Courtauld Institute of Art, London. London: Mansell, 1978.

“Barbara Regina Dietzsch.” RKD. https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/22777.

Bénézit, Emmanuel. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays. Paris: Gründ, 1976.

Beyer, Andreas, Bénédicte Savoy, Wolf Tegethoff, and Eberhard König. Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: de bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker. Munich: Saur, 1992.

“Dietzsch, Barbara Regina.” Oxford Art Online. https://doi-org.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00051483.

Gerson, Horst. Ausbreitung und Nachwirkung der holländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts. Amsterdam: B. M. Israel, 1983.

Greer, Germaine. The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1979.

Schmidt-Liebich, Jochen. Lexikon der Künstlerinnen 1700–1900: Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz. Munich: Saur, 2005.

Strunck, Christina. “Hofkünnstlerinnen. Weibliche Karrierestrategien an den Höfen der Frühen Neuzeit.” In Künstlerinnen: Neue Perspektiven auf ein Forschungsfeld der Vormoderne. Edited by Birgit Ulrike Münch, Andreas Tacke, Markwart Herzog, and Sylvia Heudecker, 20–37. Petersberg: Michael Imhoff, 2017.