Cornelius, PETER VON

Cornelius, PETER VON, one of the first masters of the modern German school of painting, was born at Düsseldorf, 23d September 1783, and studied in the academy of his native town. When only nineteen years of age, he painted some remarkable frescoes for the old church of Neuss. Four years later he gave still more unmistakable proofs of a creative fancy in his illustrations of Goethe's Faust and the Nibelungen Lied. In 1811 he went to Rome, and joined the group of Veit, Schadow, and other Germans who were there at work, Overbeck being his chosen friend. This journey exercised a profound influence on the whole of his future career. The great importance of the early masters became ever clearer to him as he studied their choicest productions. While at Rome he aided in the decoration of the Casa Bartoldi, and gained wide reputation by two cartoons, 'Joseph's Interpretation of the Dream' and 'Joseph's Recognition of his Brethren.' From Rome he passed to Düsseldorf, where he became director of the academy, which he remodelled; in 1819 he was called to Munich, and entered the service of the then crown-prince of Bavaria. Here he remained till 1841, and executed those grand works on which his fame mainly rests, and which may be divided into two classes, Pagan and Christian, the former of which comprises the large frescoes in the saloon of the Glyptothek, all illustrating stories of the Greek gods and heroes; while the latter, or Christian series, begun after the completion of the former in 1830, consists of frescoes of New Testament scenes, extending from the 'Incarnation' to the 'Judgment,' and decorates the 'Ludwig's Church' in Munich, which was built for the purpose of affording scope for the genius of Cornelius. The 'Judgment' is the largest fresco in the world, larger even than Michael Angelo's 'Judgment' in the Sistine Chapel. In 1841 Cornelius was invited by the king of Prussia to Berlin, where he was appointed director of the Berlin Academy. Among his productions in the Prussian capital are the frescoes for the Campo Santo, or royal burial-place, where his 'Four Riders of the Apocalypse' display an impetuous and daring power which he had not hitherto evinced. Opinion is divided regarding the merits of Cornelius. By his own countrymen he is much admired; and certainly the importance of the impetus which he gave to mural decoration in Germany cannot be overestimated. French critics, on the other hand, regard him as more a thinker than an artist. He is admitted to have been a profoundly creative genius, but without mastery in manipulation or great power as a colourist. He formed, however, a school, from which have gone forth many illustrious pupils; but he lived to see it losing hold on public sympathy. A series of his cartoons is preserved in the National Gallery, Berlin, and his works have been reproduced by Amsler, Schoefer, Eberle, and the best German engravers. He died in Berlin, 6th March 1867. See his Life by Förster (2 vols. Berlin, 1874).