The New International Encyclopædia/Knabl, Joseph

KNABL, knä´b'l, (1819-81). An Austrian sculptor, born at Fliess, Tyrol. The son of a poor peasant, he tended cattle when a boy, was first instructed by the wood-carver Franz Renn at Imst, and afterwards in Munich by Entres and Anselm Sickinger. Deeply interested in mediæval German wood-sculpture, the revival of which he made his chief aim, he studied its best specimens in Bavaria, Tyrol, and on the Rhine, and afterwards produced in Munich a series of sterling works in wood and marble, the most remarkable of which is the &ldquo;Coronation of Mary,&rdquo; on the high altar in the Frauenkirche. He was a member of the Academy, at which a special chair was created for him in 1863, and for many years was director of Meyer's Institute for Ecclesiastic Art. &mdash; His son (1850&mdash;), born in Munich, first practiced sculpture under his father's tuition, but became a genre painter as a pupil of Piloty. His effective and frequently humorous genre scenes include &ldquo;The Robbed Miser&rdquo; (1874), &ldquo;An Undiscovered Genius&rdquo; (1879), and &ldquo;Poachers&rdquo; (1891).