(b Wolfurt, nr Bregenz, 11 June 1800; d Bregenz, 19 May 1881). Austrian painter. He studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna, under Franc Kavcic and Anton Petter (1781–1858). In 1827, after a short period in Munich, he moved to Bregenz with his friend, the painter Liberat Hundertpfund (1806–78). In 1829 he and Hundertpfund moved to Innsbruck, where Flatz painted numerous portraits. In 1833 he went to Rome, where he remained for five years. His stay there and his meeting with Friedrich Overbeck were of great importance for his artistic development, as were the paintings of Fra Angelico and Raphael. He began to paint solely religious subjects in the manner of the NAZARENES. Paintings of the Virgin and Child are especially reminiscent of Overbeck; although rendered with great feeling and charm, they tend to be somewhat saccharine (e.g. Virgin and Child, 1858; Neuss, Clemens-Sels-Mus.). He briefly visited Innsbruck again but returned to Rome in 1840 with his pupil Jakob Fink (1821–46). In artistic and Catholic circles in Rome his reputation almost equalled that of Overbeck. After the Italian revolution of 1848–9, Flatz returned to Bregenz and executed numerous altarpieces and other paintings for local churches (e.g. two altar paintings, 1860 and 1869; Bregenz, St Antonius). A work of 1847, Virgin and Child with St John (sold Munich, Weinmüller, 27–9 June 1973; see Fuchs, p. 109) is painted as a tondo in the style of Raphael and Leonardo. He also painted commissions for patrons throughout Europe.