Overbeck

Overbeck, JOHANN FRIEDRICH, painter, was born at Lübeck, 4th July 1789, and commenced his art studies at Vienna in 1806 as a pupil of the pseudo-classical school of David; but, having adopted notions on art essentially different from those inculcated in the academy, he was expelled along with some like-minded friends, and in 1809 set out for Rome. His principle was to abjure the classical Renaissance and its sensuousness, and to 'abide by the Bible.' In Rome he was joined by Cornelius, Schadow, Schnorr, and Veit; and these five laid the foundation of a school that influenced the taste for art in Europe, though they were scoffed at as 'Pre-Raphaelites,' 'Nazarites,' 'Church-Romantic painters,' and had long to struggle with poverty. A picture of the Madonna, which Overbeck painted in 1811, brought him into marked notice. He was next employed by the Prussian consul, Bartholdy, to execute for his house at Rome frescoes illustrating the history of Joseph, the 'Selling of Joseph' and the 'Seven Lean Years' being the subjects assigned to Overbeck. After completing these he painted in fresco, in the villa of the Marchese Massimo, five large compositions from Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. In 1813 he abjured Lutheranism, and embraced the Roman Catholic religion. Overbeck's chief work is a fresco at Assisi, 'The Vision of St Francis.' His oil-pictures are inferior to his frescoes, being dry and weak in colour. Among his famous pictures are 'Christ's Entry into Jerusalem,' at Lübeck; 'Christ's Agony in the Garden,' at Hamburg; 'Lo Sposalizio,' at Berlin; 'The Triumph of Religion in the Arts,' at Frankfort; the 'Incredulity of St Thomas,' in London. He executed a great many drawings and cartoons remarkable for devotional feeling, most of which, like his frescoes and paintings, have been engraved. One of his last undertakings was a series of designs from the Evangelists, delicately engraved in the line manner. Amongst the characteristics of the school are devout feeling, hardness of outline, scholastic composition, and the avoidance of merely sensuous beauty both in colour and form. Overbeck died at Rome on 12th November 1869. See Life by J. B. Atkinson (1882), in 'Great Artists' series.