He began his training in Ulm with the painter Christoph Resch (1701–16), and later studied under Johann Falch (1687–1727) in Augsburg. He learned the art of engraving from Georg Philipp Rugendas.[2] On the invitation of Wolf, Freiherr von Metternich (1706–31), he spent three years in Regensburg: his coursing and visits to the riding school there proved decisive for his development. His engraved, etched and scratched sheets show the animals in characteristic movements and positions in a landscape environment. The ornamental movements in his works show visibly Rococo stylistic tendencies.[3] He later founded his own art publishing house in Augsburg, where most of his works appeared. In 1759 he became the director of the Augsburg Stadtakademie. His drawings were often executed with precision and taste and hence his work was held in high esteem and was also transferred to decoration, porcelain and ceramics.
Georg August Wilhelm Thienemann: Leben und Wirken des unvergleichlichen Tiermalers und Kupferstechers Ridinger. Leipsic 1856 DigitalisatArchived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Ign. Schwarz: Katalog einer Ridinger-Sammlung. (Sammlung Rudolf Ritter von Gutmann.) Vienna 1910.
erlebnis ridinger 1698-1998. Dem über die Jahrhunderte hinweg triumphierenden Meister und seinen Freunden zum 300. Geburtstag. Jubilée publication. 1998
Jan Hendrik Niemeyer: Johann Elias Ridinger im Reiche der Kolorierten Thiere. Entstehung und Vollendung einer Folge. New revised edition. 2010
Ellen Spickernagel[de]: Dem Auge auf die Sprünge helfen. Jagdbare Tiere und Jagden bei Johann Elias Ridinger (1698-1767). In: Annette Bühler-Dietrich u. Michael Weingarten (eds.), Topos Tier: Neue Gestaltungen des Tier-Mensch-Verhältnisses. Bielefeld 2015, ISBN 978-3-8376-2860-9, pp. 103–123.
U. Heise: Ridinger, Johann Elias. In: Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon, vol. 98, Berlin, Munich, New York 2017, pp. 472 ff.
J.E. Ridinger, Entwurff Einiger Thiere (…) 1738-1740. Faksimile edition, Dr. Wolfgang Schwarze Verlag, Wuppertal 1975.
Johann Elias Ridinger. In: Monika Michel: Vorfahren und Verwandte des Tiermalers und Kupferstechers Johann Elias Ridinger (1698–1767). Blätter des Bayerischen Landesvereins für Familienkunde, 50th volume, issue 15, nos. 13–15. 1987. p. 396 f.
Jan Hendrik Niemeyer: Ridinger Erlebnisse. Leben Werk Nachruhm in Daten + Annotationen. Norderstedt 2021. ISBN 978-3-7534-3535-0.
