FEUERBACH, Anselm Friedrich - b. 0 , d. 0 - WGA

FEUERBACH, Anselm Friedrich

(b. 0 , d. 0 )

German painter. He was, like Böcklin, a German Romantic painter who came under the spell of Italy and Italian art (in his case, Raphael). He was trained in Germany, he received his first art lessons from the anatomical draughtsman at the University of Freiburg where his father, Joseph Anselm Feuerbach, lectured in Classical philology and archaeology. In 1845 he enrolled at the Düsseldorf Akademie where he studied under Wilhelm Schadow. In 1848 he moved to Munich where he made copies after Old Master paintings in the Alte Pinakothek. He went to Paris and worked in Couture’s studio (1852-53); he was also simultaneously influenced by Delacroix and Courbet.

In 1855 he went to Italy and spent most of the rest of his life there except for three unsuccessful years (1873-76) teaching in Vienna. He painted some fine portraits, 16th-century Italian in feeling, especially those of Nanna, whose features obsessed him from 1860 to 1865. Karlsruhe has a whole room of his works and most German galleries possess examples.

Medea
Medea by

Medea

Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea. The protagonist Medea is abandoned by her husband Jason and in revenge kills the children they have had.

Miriam
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Miriam

Feuerbach’s imposing Italian model, Anna Risi, the wife of a Roman shoemaker, is found in many of his paintings. Her severe beauty suggests both a dominatrix and a nanny. In Miriam, she poses as Moses’ sister, striking a tambourine to celebrate the safe crossing of the Red Sea.

Nanna
Nanna by

Nanna

From 1860 to 1865 Anna Risi, a cobbler from Trastevere in Rome, was Anselm Feuerbach’s model. He believed that in her he had found the embodiment of classical ideals of beauty and so she sat for him for a series of mythological, religious and literary subjects. The real model was essential to Feuerbach despite the idealism of his sketches.

Nanna
Nanna by
Peonies
Peonies by
Platonic Banquet
Platonic Banquet by

Platonic Banquet

This painting is the second, far more ornate, version of the artist’s Platonic Banquet; the earlier canvas is in Karslruhe. This is a major example of his monumental manner. The handsomely patterned, tapestry-like enclosure reinforces the powerful figure groupings within. Its design comes close to the goals of the many new German schools for applied design, founded at a time of burgeoning industrial manufacture.

Ricordo da Tivoli
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Ricordo da Tivoli

Self-Portrait
Self-Portrait by
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