CORNELIUS, Peter

This fresco was originally part of a cycle of paintings in the former reception room of the Casa Bartholdy in Rome. They were painted in 1815-17. At the end of the 19th century the frescoes were taken down and moved to Berlin. Jacob’s Lament is by Schadow, while Philipp Veit (1793-1877) painted the lunette above it, The Fat Years, and the large-scale Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife. Cornelius painted the Joseph Interpreting Pharaoh’s Dream - also crowned by a lunette, The Lean Years by Overbeck - and The Recognition of Joseph by his Brothers. The artists regarded the cycle as their main work and they all made watercolour versions on a small scale, which were shown in the Berlin Academy exhibition in the autumn of 1818, framed with architectural divisions.

In this painting the Pharaoh sits listening attentively, deep in thought, to the prophecies of the future that Joseph is counting for him on his fingers, like an arithmetical exercise. In the listeners Cornelius has shown the whole range of reactions - from the scribe’s factual record, through keen attention and skepticism to disbelief in the figure disappearing into the dark. But the painter’s idea to show the dream in the round panels on the sides is interesting. They are like a projection by a laterna magica.

It should be pointed out that colour did not play an important part in these frescoes. Similarly, particular attention has not been paid to the composition as a whole; the individual figures are conceived as part of a cumulative show. The narrative coexistence determines the picture - as in Nazarene art generally.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 5 minutes):

�tienne Nicolas M�hul: Joseph, aria

In autumn 1811 Cornelius travelled to Rome, where he immediately joined the circle of the Nazarenes (Lukasbr�der) around Friedrich Overbeck and Franz Pforr. In their attitude to art, Cornelius found confirmation and extension of his views. Like them, he was convinced that it was necessary to revive in Germany a truly national and religious art. He shared their aversion to academy-taught classicism and saw the work of Raphael as a guide. The influence of Raphael’s work was decisive in his efforts to revitalize religious art and can be seen in the most important religious pictures of his Roman period: the Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins (1813–19; Museum Kunstpalast, D�sseldorf) and the Entombment (1819; Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen), which was based on Raphael’s treatment of the subject (Galleria Borghese, Rome).

Cornelius’s Entombment is a recreation of Raphael’s The Entombment from 1507 in the Galleria Borghese at Rome. Raphael was considered the greatest artist of all time, but Cornelius was nevertheless aware that even the art of the incomparable Raphael did not perhaps in every respect live up to the demand for piety that had applied in the Middle Ages and which the Nazarenes were working to re-establish. Whereas Raphael’s version is characterised by almost heroic action, Cornelius allows a simple, quiet sorrow to descend on his scene.

In Munich in 1836 Cornelius received a major commission to decorate the altar wall of the Ludwigskirche with the fresco of the Last Judgment. Basically it is oriented to Michelangelo’s fresco in the Sistine Chapel, but is easily half as big again, so it is now the largest fresco in the world. It proved fatal for Cornelius. The individual elements simply would not resolve into a unified composition. Cornelius was overwhelmed with criticism as soon as the painting was finished, and there were acrimonious disputes with King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 10 minutes):

Giuseppe Verdi: Requiem, Dies irae (excerpt)

This fresco was originally part of a cycle of paintings in the former reception room of the Casa Bartholdy in Rome. They were painted in 1815-17. At the end of the 19th century the frescoes were taken down and moved to Berlin. Jacob’s Lament is by Schadow, while Philipp Veit (1793-1877) painted the lunette above it, The Fat Years, and the large-scale Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife. Cornelius painted the Joseph Interpreting Pharaoh’s Dream - also crowned by a lunette, The Lean Years by Overbeck - and The Recognition of Joseph by his Brothers. The artists regarded the cycle as their main work and they all made watercolour versions on a small scale, which were shown in the Berlin Academy exhibition in the autumn of 1818, framed with architectural divisions.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 5 minutes):

�tienne Nicolas M�hul: Joseph, aria

This drawing is a study to a monumental fresco.

This drawing is part of illustrations by Cornelius to Goethe’s Faust. The vividly executed pen and ink drawing shows Cornelius’s technique, which was taken from that of copperplate engravings.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 14 minutes):

Charles Gounod: Faust, Ballet music

In autumn 1811 Cornelius travelled to Rome, where he immediately joined the circle of the Nazarenes (Lukasbr�der) around Friedrich Overbeck and Franz Pforr. In their attitude to art Cornelius found confirmation and extension of his own views. Like them, he was convinced that it was necessary to revive in Germany a truly national and religious art. He shared their aversion to academy-taught classicism and saw the work of Raphael as a guide. The influence of Raphael’s work was decisive in his efforts to revitalize religious art and can be seen in the most important religious pictures of his Roman period: The Wise and the Foolish Virgins (c. 1813, Museum Kunstpalast, D�sseldorf) and the Entombment (1819; Copenhagen, Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen), which was based on Raphael’s treatment of the subject (Galleria Borghese, Rome).