From 1995 to 1999, the author restored five paintings from the main altar of the Franciscan church in Subotica (Hungary). The archive material available there already provided indications of the authorship of Sebastian Stettner (1699-1758). The documents in Subotica describe, among other things, the execution of the commission. According to them, Sebastian Stettner painted St. Michael “with extraordinary skill and expertise” in such a way that he […]

From 1995 to 1999, the author restored five paintings from the main altar of the Franciscan church in Subotica (Hungary). The archive material available there already provided indications of the authorship of Sebastian Stettner (1699-1758).

The documents in Subotica describe, among other things, the execution of the commission. According to them, Sebastian Stettner painted St. Michael “with extraordinary skill and expertise” in such a way that he steps on the devil. However, the client criticized the number of devils: “Why so many devils?” (Archivium 1751: 30). The artist therefore had to make changes to his painting and probably painted a completely new picture, as X-ray examinations showed no traces of overpainting. As things stand at present, he probably only submitted an oil sketch to the director of the House of the Order and chose the current iconographic concept before executing it. Unfortunately, these or other sketches by Stettner have not survived. They would have provided a better indication of his drawing skills and would have brought us closer to the art workshop where he studied.

However, by examining the materials and production techniques and evaluating the sources, a total of 14 works could be attributed to this master. The painter and gilder, whose origins are documented as “Dorst, Baijern” but could not be verified, settled in Buda (Hungary) in 1727, where he was granted citizenship in 1736. The city fathers made their decision dependent on the consent of two painters in Buda: Georg Falkoner (1646-1741) and Kaspar Landtrachtinger (1670-1744). Around 1738, his marriage to Maria Theresia Seth (1716-1789) enabled him to acquire a house in which he ran his workshop. His wife was also a painter and continued to run the workshop after Stettner’s death.
You can find out more about Sebastian Stettner’s painting technique in RESTAURO 4 / 2014.

In the last 30 years, the number of flying insects has fallen by almost 76 percent. Prof. Dr. Jorge Groß and his team took this as an opportunity to develop an app designed to teach people about animals and plants. The app can now even be used to identify bumblebee species. With the “ID Logics” app […]

In the last 30 years, the number of flying insects has fallen by almost 76 percent. Prof. Dr. Jorge Groß and his team took this as an opportunity to develop an app designed to teach people about animals and plants. The app can now even be used to identify bumblebee species.

The “ID Logics” app has previously been used to identify trees, shrubs and mussels. At the end of April, the research team at the University of Bamberg, led by Prof. Dr. Groß, published an extension to the app. This enables laypeople and experts to identify bumblebee species. Groß hopes that this will awaken the public’s fascination with bumblebees and transfer their enthusiasm to all insects and nature conservation.

The project was supported by three different foundations: The German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) funded around 350,000 euros together with the Joachim Herz Foundation. The Lower Saxony Bingo Environmental Foundation (NBU) is contributing around 30,000 euros to the identification of the bumblebees until 2021.

Species identification is simple: with the help of pictures, specific questions and selection options for external appearance, the app recognizes the bumblebees within a very short time. It is error-tolerant, which means that it can correctly identify the species even if mistakes have been made in the information provided. It also provides additional information in the form of educational videos, fact sheets and distribution maps.

The data entered by users not only identifies the bumblebee species, but also enables the research team to accompany and support species identification. Above all, wild bees and rare bumblebee species can be reintroduced and their decline documented. The reintroduction works, for example, by planting certain flowers.

The long-term goal is to introduce “ID-Logics” throughout Europe and to add many other species groups such as ants and spring-flowering plants.