The epithet Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th-century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive spirituality in art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a biblical manner of clothing and hair style.

History

In 1809, six students at the Vienna Academy formed an artistic cooperative in

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called the Brotherhood of St. Luke or ''Lukasbund'', following a common name for medieval guilds of painters. In 1810 four of them, Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Franz Pforr, Ludwig Vogel and Johann Konrad Hottinger (1788-1827) moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where they occupied the abandoned monastery of San Isidoro. They were joined by Philipp Veit, Peter von Cornelius,

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (26 March 1794 – 24 May 1872) () was a German painter, chiefly of Biblical subjects. As a young man he associated with the painters of the Nazarene movement who revived the florid Renaissance style in religious ar ...

, Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow and a loose grouping of other German-speaking artists. They met up with Austrian romantic landscape artist Joseph Anton Koch (1768–1839) who became an unofficial tutor to the group. In 1827 they were joined by Joseph von Führich (1800–1876). The principal motivation of the Nazarenes was a reaction against

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism ...

and the routine art education of the academy system. They hoped to return to art that embodied spiritual values, and sought inspiration in artists of the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

, rejecting what they saw as the superficial virtuosity of later art. In Rome the group lived a semi-monastic existence as a way of re-creating the nature of the medieval artist's workshop. Religious subjects dominated their output, and two major commissions allowed them to attempt a revival of the medieval art of

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

painting. The first was a fresco series completed in Rome for the Casa Bartholdy (1816–17; moved to the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin), a collaborative project by the Nazarenes that "marks the beginnng of the revival of fresco decoration for private and public buildings". This, and a second commission to decorate the Casino Massimo (1817–1829), gained international attention for the work of the "Nazarenes". However, by 1830 all except Overbeck had returned to Germany and the group had disbanded. Many Nazarenes became influential teachers in German art academies.

Legacy

The programme of the Nazarenes—the adoption of what they called honest expression in art and the inspiration of artists before Raphael—was to exert considerable influence in Germany, and in England upon the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...

movement. They were also direct influences on the British artists

William Dyce William Dyce (; 19 September 1806 in Aberdeen14 February 1864) was a Scottish painter, who played a part in the formation of public art education in the United Kingdom, and the South Kensington Schools system. Dyce was associated with the Pre-R ...

and Frederick Leighton and Ford Madox Brown.Neil MacMillan, ''Victorian Romantics'' (Vancouver: MacMillan & Perrin, 1979) p.1

Notable members

* Peter von Cornelius * Josef Führich * Johann Friedrich Overbeck * Franz Pforr * Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow *

Eduard Jakob von Steinle Eduard von Steinle (2 July 1810 – 19 September 1886) was a historical painter and member of the Nazarene movement. Life He was born 2 July 1810 in Vienna. Steinle came successively under the influence of the painters Leopold Kupelwieser, ...

* Philipp Veit *

Johannes Veit Johannes Veit, originally Jonas Veit (2 March 1790, Berlin - 18 January 1854, Rome) was a German history painter. After 1811, he lived and worked in Rome, where he was a member of the Nazarene movement.

* Ludwig Vogel * Eugene von Guerard

Other painters associated with the movement

Carl Joseph Begas Carl Joseph Begas, or Karl Begas, (30 September 1794, Heinsberg – 24 November 1854, Berlin) was a German painter who played an important role in the transition from Romanticism to Realism. He was the first in a multi-generational "dynasty" of ...

* Karl von Blaas *

Ernst Deger Ernst Deger (15 April 1809, Bockenem - 27 January 1885, Düsseldorf) was a German religious artist, in the style of the Nazarene movement. He is considered to be the main representative of Christian art in the Düsseldorfer Malerschule. Life ...

* Konrad Eberhard * Carl Eggers *

Marie Ellenrieder Marie Ellenrieder (20 March 1791 – 5 June 1863) was a German painter known for her portraits and religious paintings. Life and career Ellenrieder was born in Konstanz, Germany in 1791, the daughter of Konrad and Anna Maria Herrmann, and ...

* Gebhard Flatz *

Matthias Goebbels Joseph Matthias Hubertus Goebbels (19 March 1836 – 6 September 1911) was a German Catholic Priest and artist. Goebbels served as a Roman Catholic priest at the Church of Sankt Maria im Kapitol in Cologne, Germany and became a noted painter ...

Josef von Hempel Sebastian Josef Ritter und Edler von Hempel (9 February 1800, Vienna - 2 September 1871, Tokod) was an Austrian painter of the Nazarene movement and an author. Life Youth and travels to Italy He came from a wealthy aristocratic family. As ...

* Franz Theobald Horny * Franz Ittenbach * Gustav Jäger * Leopold Kupelwieser * Friedrich Lange *

Ferdinand Olivier Johann Heinrich Ferdinand Olivier (1785–1841) was a German painter associated with the Nazarene movement. Life Olivier was born in Dessau on 1 April 1785, to a family of Swiss-French descent. He began his artistic education in 1801 by taking d ...

* Friedrich Olivier * Johann David Passavant * Carl Gottlieb Peschel * Johann Anton Ramboux *

Theodor Rehbenitz Theodor Markus Rehbenitz (2 September 1791, Borstel - 19 February 1861, Kiel) was a German painter and draftsman, associated with the Nazarene movement. Life and work He was born on an estate where his father served as the Superintendent. ...

* Johann Scheffer von Leonhardshoff * Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld * Johann von Schraudolph * Joseph Anton Settegast * Johann Michael Wittmer *

Giuseppe Hyzler Giuseppe Hyzler (1787 – 19 January 1858) was a Maltese painter. Born in Malta with a German background, he was awarded a scholarship by the Governor of Malta, Sir Thomas Maitland, in 1814, to pursue his artistics formation in Rome. There Hyzl ...

and his brother Vincenzo Hyzler from Malta

References

External links

{{Authority control Nazarene movement,