Der englische Kupferstecher Isaiah Noual (1725–1793)

Abstract

The largely unknown copperplate engraver Isaiah Noual joined the Moravian Church in London as an awakened young man. Where the opportunity presented itself, he placed himself at its service, both through his artistic work and also personally. In the 1760s the desire to work more intensively for the church took him for some time to Germany and Ireland, but his search for a suitable place remained unfulfilled, so he returned to London and took up a position with a lawyer. Those of his works that have so far been identified are for the most part more those of a craftsman than of an artist – in the most extreme cases just copies of plans and sketch maps without any artistic aspirations. Only rarely can artistic input or even design be recognized. As is otherwise the case with artists and craftsmen, commissions from or work undertaken for the Moravian Church were not sufficient for him to make a living. Noual was obliged to this outside the church, and ultimately even to give up his artistic work completely. The article looks at Noual’s life and works in chronological order.