Johann Rudolph Schellenberg
Self-portrait (etching, c. 1780) • Illustration — Johann Rudolph Schellenberg: Johann Rudolph Schellenberg (4 January 1740, Basel – 8 June 1806, Töss, a district in the city of Winterthur) was a Swiss artist, writer and entomologist best known for his illustrations of insects. During his career he performed illustrative work for Johann Heinrich Sulzer, Johannes Gessner, Johann Kaspar Lavater and Johann Kaspar Füssli.
Also recorded as Johann Rudolf Schellenburg · Johann Rudolf Schellenberg · Johann Rudolf Scholtemberge · Schellenberg
Johann Rudolph Schellenberg
![A man with goitre: front (left) and profile (right) views. Etching by J.R. Schellenberg, 1778., [1778], by Johann Rudolph Schellenberg](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/V0010498/full/1280,/0/default.jpg)
Johann Rudolph Schellenberg · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection · Public Domain Mark
- Born
- 1740.
- Died
- 1806.
- Nationality
- Switzerland.
- Occupation
- entomologist, illustrator, painter, botanist, engraver, printmaker, draftsperson, etcher and poet.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Self-portrait (etching, c. 1780) • Illustration — Johann Rudolph Schellenberg: Johann Rudolph Schellenberg (4 January 1740, Basel – 8 June 1806, Töss, a district in the city of Winterthur) was a Swiss artist, writer and entomologist best known for his illustrations of insects. During his career he performed illustrative work for Johann Heinrich Sulzer, Johannes Gessner, Johann Kaspar Lavater and Johann Kaspar Füssli.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Johann Rudolph Schellenberg. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q117222 · wikipedia · Johann Rudolph Schellenberg
In this article
Biography
Biography
He illustrated a number of entomological works, a few being: • Johann Heinrich Sulzer's Die Kennzeichen der Insekten, nach Anleitung des Königl. Ritters und Leibarzts Karl Linnaeus. Mit einer Vorrede des Herrn Johannes Gessners, published in Zurich in 1761. • Johann Jacob Roemer's Genera Insectorum Linnaei et Fabricii iconibus illustrata published in Winterthur, Steiner in 1789. • His own Genres des mouches Diptères représentés en XLII planches projettées et dessinées et expliquées par deux amateurs de l'entomologie, published in Zurich in 1803. This work has 42 plates. The municipal library in Winterthur has about 4000 of his insect watercolors.
![A town councillor enters a room in which he is greated by Death. Etching by J.R. Schellenberg, 1785., [1785], by Johann Rudolph Schellenberg](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/V0042167/full/800,/0/default.jpg)
A town councillor enters a room in which he is greated by Death. Etching by J.R. Schellenberg, 1785., [1785], by Johann Rudolph Schellenberg
Johann Rudolph Schellenberg · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection
![A man drawing the silhouette of a seated woman on translucent paper suspended in a frame and lit by a candle. Etching by J.R. Schellenberg, 1783., [1783], by Johann Rudolph Schellenberg](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/V0049670/full/800,/0/default.jpg)
A man drawing the silhouette of a seated woman on translucent paper suspended in a frame and lit by a candle. Etching by J.R. Schellenberg, 1783., [1783], by Johann Rudolph Schellenberg
Johann Rudolph Schellenberg · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1740
Johann Rudolph Schellenberg was born in 1740.
1806
Johann Rudolph Schellenberg died at Töss.
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q117222: Johann Rudolph Schellenberg
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Johann Rudolph Schellenberg”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.NDB 22 649 649 Schellenberg, Johann Rudolf Hans Konrad Schmutz 118968416
- 2.SIKART 4026121 Johann Rudolf Schellenberg Autor=Paola von Wyss-Giacosa .
- 3.ADB 30 762 765 Schellenberg, Johann Rudolf Carl Brun ADB:Schellenberg, Johann Rudolf
- 4.Ulrich Hegner: Leben Johann Rudolf Schellenbergs von Winterthur (= III. Neujahrsstück, herausgegeben von der Künstler-Gesellschaft in Zürich). 1807, S. 6–7.
- 5.Karin Marti-Weissenbach.
- 6.Carl Brun: Schellenberg, Johann Rudolf. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. 1890. – Das Werk Kennzeichen der Insekten war allerdings bereits 1761 veröffentlicht worden. Man muss also wohl Carl Bruns Ausführungen dahingehend interpretieren, dass es Schellenberg erst nach 1764 dank Johannes Gessners Unterstützung gelang, an diesen ersten Erfolg anzuknüpfen.
- 7.Ulrich Hegner: Leben Johann Rudolf Schellenbergs von Winterthur. 1807, S. 16.
- 8.Helvetische Entomologie oder Verzeichniss der Schweizer Insecten, nach einer neuen Methode geordnet mit Beschreibungen und Abbildungen. Band 2, Orell, Füssli & Co., Zürich, S. 3 (online).
- 9.Aquarius Schellenberg, 1800. GBIF, abgerufen am 25. Juni 2024.
- 10.Tinearia Schellenberg, 1803. GBIF, abgerufen am 25. Juni 2024.
- 11.Schellenbergia Heer, 1865. GBIF, abgerufen am 25. Juni 2024.
- 12.Fantastische Tierwesen in der Graphik des 15. bis 18. Jahrhunderts. Karikaturen und Spott. Virtuelle Ausstellung des Kupferstichkabinetts der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, abgerufen am 26. Juni 2024.
- 13.H. Appenzeller: Schellenberg, Johann Rudolf. In: Carl Brun (Redakteur): Schweizerisches Künstler-Lexikon. Hrsg.: Schweizerischer Kunstverein. Band 3. Huber, Frauenfeld 1913, S. 33.
- 14.H. Appenzeller: Schellenberg, Johann Rudolf. In: Schweizerisches Künstler-Lexikon. Band 3. Frauenfeld 1913, S. 32.
- 15.Hans Georg Wehrens: Der Totentanz im alemannischen Sprachraum. «Muos ich doch dran – und weis nit wan». Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7954-2563-0, S. 245 f.
- 16.Johann Rudolph Schellenberg. National Gallery of Art.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q117222: Johann Rudolph SchellenbergWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Prints
4,138 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Johann Michael VoltzEngraver
- Johann Oswald HarmsEngraver
- Johann Peter PichlerEngraver
- Johann Rudolf HuberEngraver
- Johann SalverEngraver
- Johann StenglinEngraver
- Johann Theodor de BryEngraver
- Johann Ulrich KrausEngraver
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Johann Rudolph Schellenberg?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.