Anton Josef Reiss

Anton Josef Reiss, also Reiß (30 October 1835 – 1 February 1900 ) was a German sculptor. Based in Düsseldorf, he focused on sacred art for churches, including a marble Pietà for St. Gereon in Cologne in a style close to the Nazarene movement.

Life and career Born in Düsseldorf, Reiss was the third child of Carl Peter Josef Reiß, who worked then as a coachman, and Sophie Henriette Fink. His sisters were Luise and Christine. He received his training as a sculptor from Julius Bayerle (1826–1873), Josef Reiss was a member of the Malkasten artists group, and had his studio in the mid-1870s at Klosterstraße 88, where he took in his widowed mother. In the early 1880s, Reiss built a home for himself on the corner plot of Kurfürstenstraße 28 at Klosterstraße 128. The owner of the neighbouring house was, among others, Gustav Rutz's family.

He devoted his work entirely to the church, in a style similar to the Nazarene movement. For his marble Pietà for St. Gereon in Cologne, He created a new Calvary next to Düsseldorf's , replacing a late-Gothic group sculpture of seven figures which had fallen into disrepair. Hüls High altar in St. Cyriakus. Neuss Side altars in St. Quirinus