From a family of Protestants, belonged to the community of the Moravian brethren. A student of Klaus in Lucerne, improved in Italy studying the great masters. During his twenty-two years of stay in that country, and then in Vienna, executed some historical paintings, but became known mainly through his portraits, executed with great taste, juicy and free of brush, in a pleasant tone, though sometimes elegant in posture and expression. During the stay of Peter the Great in carlsbad in 1711 to paint his portrait.