Defregger, Franz von (b Stronach, Tyrol, 30 April 1835; d Munich, 2 Jan 1921).

Austrian painter. He was first trained in wood-carving by the Innsbruck sculptor Michael Stolz (1820–90), who recognized his talent for oil painting and in 1860 introduced him to Karl Theodor von Piloty in Munich. On Piloty’s recommendation, he studied for a year under Hermann Dyck (1842–74) at the private school of the Kunstgewerbeverein, then under Hermann Anschütz (1802–80) at the Munich Akademie. In 1863–4 he was in Paris, but he seems to have been little influenced by developments in contemporary French painting. He returned to Munich, via the Tyrol, in 1864 and entered Piloty’s studio, where he remained until 1870, working alongside Hans Makart and Gabriel von Max.