Joseph Beavington Atkinson

“ The cartoon, which, as usual in modern German art, is superior to the ultimate picture, was executed in the artist’s prime at the age of thirty. At this period, as here seen, the knowledge was little short of absolute; subtle is the sense of beauty; playful, delicate, firm the touch; the whole treatment artistic. ”

“ I. Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764–1850) , sculptor, was born and died in Berlin, where his father was a poor tailor. His first teacher was an inferior sculptor, Tassaert, patronized by Frederick the Great; the master offered his daughter in marriage, but the pupil preferred to elope with a girl to Vienna, and the father-in-law not only condoned the offence but furnished money wherewith to visit Italy. Three years' study in Rome formed his style, and in 1788 he returned to Berlin to succeed Tassaert as sculptor to the court and secretary to the Academy. ”

“ The young artist left Lübeck in March 1806, and entered as student the academy of Vienna, then under the direction of F. H. Füger, a painter of some renown, but of the pseudo-classic school of the French David. Here was gained thorough knowledge, but the teachings and associations proved unendurable to the sensitive, spiritual-minded youth. Overbeck wrote to a friend that he had fallen among a vulgar set, that every noble thought was suppressed within the academy and that losing all faith in humanity he turned inwardly on himself. ”

“ His father, who was poor, combined painting with the goldsmith’s trade, but means were found to place Wilhelm, a youth of seventeen, in the art academy of Düsseldorf, then becoming renowned under the directorship of Peter von Cornelius. Young Kaulbach contended against hardships, even hunger. But his courage never failed; and, uniting genius with industry, he was ere long foremost among the young national party which sought to revive the arts of Germany. The ambitious work by which Louis I. sought to transform Munich into a German Athens afforded the young painter an appropriate sphere. ”

“ OVERBECK, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (1780–1869) , German painter, the reviver of “ Christian art ” in the 19th century, was born in Lübeck on the 4th of July 1789. His ancestors for three generations had been Protestant pastors; his father was doctor of laws, poet, mystic pietist and burgomaster of Lübeck. Within a stone's throw of the family mansion in the Königstrasse stood the gymnasium, where the uncle, doctor of theology and a voluminous writer, was the master; there the nephew became a classic scholar and received instruction in art. ”

“ He is claimed by classicists and idealists: the quadriga on the Brandenburger Thor and the allegorical frieze on the facade of the Royal Mint, both in Berlin, are judged among the happiest studies from the antique. ”

“ In 1806–1807 he served as a soldier; in 1810 he went with his elder brother Rudolph to Rome. He became one of the leaders among the German pre-Raphaelites. Following the example of Overbeck and others, he joined the Roman Catholic Church, and held that an artist must believe and live out the truths he essays to paint. The sequel showed that Schadow was qualified to shine less as a painter than as a teacher and director. ”

“ Overbeck's compositions, with few exceptions, are engraved. His life-work he sums up in the words—“ Art to me is as the harp of David, whereupon I would desire that psalms should at all times be sounded to the praise of the Lord.” He died in Rome in 1869, aged eighty, and lies buried in San Bernardo, the church wherein he worshipped. ”