The Life of Johannes A.S. Oertel
Johannes Adam Simon Oertel (1823-1909), an artist and Episcopal clergyman, was born in Fürth, near Nuremberg, Bavaria, which today is part of Germany. He studied to become a missionary and developed a strong interest in arts like engraving and painting.
In 1848, Oertel, his parents, and two brothers, moved from Europe to Newark, New Jersey. He married Julia Adelaide Torrey, one of his art students, in 1851 and began working on a set of four paintings that would portray the redemption of humankind. He would work on this ambitious project for almost half a century. From 1852-57, he engraved banknotes and painted portraits, and from 1857-58 he worked on designs for the ceiling of the U.S. House of Representatives.
After a brief time with the Army of the Potomac to paint a few war scenes, he painted a picture with the original title of Saved: or, An Emblematic Representation of Christian Faith, a piece later called The Rock of Ages. This was reproduced on a very broad scale and was distributed even outside of the United States. However, problems with the copyright entry meant that Oertel received very little money from the sale of this very popular work.
While living in Tarrytown, New York in the 1860s, Oertel met Laura Lenoir Norwood, a young art student from Lenoir, North Carolina. She stressed to him about the need for Episcopal clergy in her hometown, and following her invitation to come to western North Carolina, in 1869, he moved to Lenoir. He then became the leader of a rural church, Saint James Episcopal Church, and two mission stations, the Chapel of Peace and the Chapel of Rest.
Oertel was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1871. Continuing his artistic endeavors and religious service, he remained in Lenoir until 1876.
He then moved several times and spent the last eighteen years of his life near Washington D.C. Throughout his life, he tried to combine art with ministry by painting over one thousand paintings and also producing a number of extraordinary wood carvings in the artistic tradition that he had learned in Europe.
References
Powell, William S. "Oertel, Johannes Adam Simon." NCpedia. Accessed November 26, 2016. http://ncpedia.org/biography/oertel-johannes-adam.