Anselm von Feuerbach

Anselm von Feuerbach , 1829-80, German painter. He studied in Germany, Paris, and Rome, spending much of his life in Italy. He sought to produce works of pure classicism that were both didactic and idealistic. Most of his famous works belong to his Roman period (1856-73), including Battle of the Amazons (Nuremberg), Iphigenia (Stuttgart), and Medea (Munich). His portraits have withstood critical opinion better than his history paintings. His autobiography (1882) emphasizes his misunderstood genius.

Feuerbach, Anselm (b Speyer, 12 Sept. 1829; d Venice, 4 Jan. 1880). German painter. He studied in Düsseldorf, Antwerp, and Paris (with Couture), then lived in Italy from 1855 to 1873. His father was a professor of classical archaeology (he had written a book on the Apollo Belvedere) and Feuerbach grew up in an atmosphere saturated with the high-minded ideals of humanistic philosophy. He wished to become the founder of a new school that was to combine noble, didactic, and idealistic subjects with a style derived from the most grandiose 16th-century Venetian painting. His subjects are usually taken from Greek antiquity (Plato's Symposium, 1869, Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe). Feuerbach's fervent desire to preach a philosophy through pictorial means was usually a source of weakness rather than strength, and his best works are now generally considered to be his portraits of his model and mistress Nanna Risi, which have a statuesque beauty lacking in his more elaborate paintings; she also posed for subject pictures such as Iphigenia (1862, Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt). Feuerbach moved to Vienna in 1873 to become professor of history painting at the Academy, but he returned to Italy in 1876 following criticism of his work. Throughout his life he complained that he was being misunderstood and not receiving the recognition due to a very great artist. It is this element of self-pity that makes his book Ein Vermächtnis (A Testament) one of the most pathetic and repellent autobiographies ever written. It was posthumously published in 1882.

Feuerbach, Anselm (1829–80). German painter. He studied in Düsseldorf, Antwerp, and Paris (with Couture), then lived in Italy from 1855 to 1873. His father was a professor of classical archaeology (he had written a book on the Apollo Belvedere) and Feuerbach grew up in an atmosphere saturated with the high-minded ideals of humanistic philosophy. He wished to become the founder of a new school that was to combine noble, didactic, and idealistic subjects with a style derived from the Grand Manner of 16th-century Venetian painting. His subjects are usually taken from Greek antiquity (Plato's Symposium, 1869, Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe). Feuerbach's fervent desire to preach a philosophy through pictorial means was usually a source of weakness rather than strength, and his best works are now generally considered to be his portraits of his model and mistress Nanna Risi, which have a statuesque beauty lacking in his more elaborate paintings; she also posed for subject pictures such as Iphigenia (1862, Hessisches Landesmus., Darmstadt). Feuerbach moved to Vienna in 1873 to become professor of history painting at the Academy, but he returned to Italy in 1876 following criticism of his work. Throughout his life he complained that he was being misunderstood and not receiving the recognition due to a very great artist. It is this element of self-pity that makes his book Ein Vermächtnis (A Testament) one of the most pathetic and repellent autobiographies ever written. It was posthumously published in 1882.