Louise Seidler
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Louise Seidler (15 May 1786,
Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...
- 7 October 1866,
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
) was a German painter at the court of the
grand dukes of Weimar Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was rais ...
, custodian of their art collection and a trusted friend of the poet
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
and the painter
Georg Friedrich Kersting Georg Friedrich Kersting (31 October 1785 – 1 July 1847) was a German painter, best known for his Biedermeier-style interior paintings and his association with fellow artist Caspar David Friedrich. Biography Kersting came from a lar ...
.


Life


Early life

Louise Seidler was born on 15 May 1786 was born to an academic in the university in Jena. She spent her youth with her grandmother (under whom she learned music and drawing) then on her grandmother's death was adopted by the wife of a doctor Stieler at Gotha. Her love of art was only developed under the sculptor Friedrich Wilhelm Eugen Döll, who had returned to Gotha after an eleven-year stay in Rome.


Return to Jena

Back in Jena she lived in her father's house, next door to
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
's home in Jena's Schloss, getting to know him in her childhood. In Jena she also became friends with
Silvie von Ziegesar Baroness Sylvie von Ziegesar (21 June 1785 – 13 February 1858) was a German noblewoman active in the intellectual circles of Weimar Classicism. She was a friend of the painter Louise Seidler and the intellectual Pauline Gotter, and was al ...
and
Pauline Gotter Pauline Gotter (29 December 1786 – 31 December 1854) was the second wife of Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and a friend of Louise Seidler and Sylvie von Cigars. Life Angelica Pauline Amalie Gotter was born on 29 December 1786. Her paren ...
, later wife of the Jena professor Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling. Louise Seidler gained full admission to intellectual circles in the city, which then included
Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
,
Johann Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kan ...
, Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling,
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
, the brothers
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
and
Wilhelm von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (, also , ; ; 22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin, which was named after ...
, the brothers
Friedrich Friedrich may refer to: Names * Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' * Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other * Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Year ...
and
August Wilhelm Schlegel August Wilhelm (after 1812: von) Schlegel (; 8 September 176712 May 1845), usually cited as August Schlegel, was a German poet, translator and critic, and with his brother Friedrich Schlegel the leading influence within Jena Romanticism. His trans ...
,
Friedrich Tieck Christian Friedrich Tieck (14 August 1776 – 24 May 1851), often known only as Friedrich Tieck, was a German sculptor and a occasional artist in oils. His work was primarily figurative and includes both public statuary and private commissions ...
,
Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...
,
Therese Emilie Henriette Winkel Therese Emilie Henriette Winkel (20 December 1784 – 7 March 1867) was a German artist, author, composer, and harpist. She also published under the pseudonyms Comala and Theorosa. Winkel was born in Weissenfels, but moved to Dresden in 1788 when ...
, Voß, Paulus,
Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer Friedrich Philipp Immanuel Niethammer (6 March 1766 – 1 April 1848), later Ritter von Niethammer, was a German theologian, philosopher and Lutheran educational reformer. Biography He received instruction at the Maulbronn monastery, and in 17 ...
,
Zacharias Werner Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner (November 18, 1768 – January 17, 1823) was a German poet, dramatist, and preacher. As a dramatist, he is known mainly for inaugurating the era of the so-called "tragedies of fate". Biography Werner was born at ...
and others. Goethe mainly met her in the house of the publisher
Carl Friedrich Ernst Frommann Carl Friedrich Ernst Frommann (14 September 1765, Züllichau - 12 June 1837, Jena) was a German publisher and bookseller. Life and work His father, Nathanael Siegismund Frommann (1736-1786), was also a bookseller. He received his training in B ...
, and began to become highly interested in her.


Marriage

On 14 October 1806 the French won the
battle of Jena A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
and in 1806 and 1807 occupied Jena, exposing its inhabitants to troop billeting and plunder. During this time Louise fell in love with and married the physician Geoffroy, in the corps of Marshal
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte sv, Karl Johan Baptist Julius , spouse = , issue = Oscar I of Sweden , house = Bernadotte , father = Henri Bernadotte , mother = Jeanne de Saint-Jean , birth_date = , birth_place = Pau, ...
. On orders received before his wedding he was then posted to Spain, where he soon afterwards died of fever in a military hospital. Her parents then sent the widowed Louise to
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
to divert her from her mourning and scatter her gloomy thoughts.


Early painting career

Visiting the Dresdner Kunstgalerie, which had also impressed Goethe, she decided to become a painter and progressed fast, having become a pupil of the painter and teacher Christian Leberecht Vogel, who taught her for free. Goethe stayed in Dresden for 10 days on his trip back from Karlsbad, and was so pleased with Louise's copy of Carlo Dolce's "Saint Cecilia" that he invited her to Weimar, where she painted his portrait. Until her mother's death on 23 September 1814 she spent the winter months in Weimar and Jena and the summer months in Dresden, undergoing further training with the painter
Gerhard von Kügelgen Franz Gerhard von Kügelgen (6 February 1772 – 27 March 1820) was a German painter, noted for his portraits and history paintings. He was a professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and a member of both the Prussian and Russian Imperial Ac ...
. In winter 1811 she was invited to Gotha by duke
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
to paint him, his second wife Karoline Amalie and Princess Louise (his daughter by his first marriage). Further work there followed on later stays. Her mother's death on 23 September 1814 marked a break in her life, since she returned to her father in Jena as head of the household, though she still saw success in her artistic work.


Rochuskapelle in Bingen

In 1816 Louise completed an altarpiece of "Saint Roch", on designs by Heinrich Meyer for the Rochuskapelle in Bingen, that he had described in 1814 as ''"On the Rhine, Main and Neckar"''. This chapel had been rebuilt from ruins and was rededicated on 16 August 1814 (St Roch's feast day), with Goethe participating in the ceremonies. The altarpiece began a correspondence between him and Louise, in which he expressed his happiness in the work.


Munich (1817-18)

Thanks to Goethe she received a one-year scholarship of 400 Taler from duke
Charles Augustus Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political uni ...
to go to Munich for a year's further training in painting. On 4 July 1817 she travelled to Munich and, with letters of recommendation from Goethe, was welcomed into the house of the philosopher
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (; 25 January 1743 – 10 March 1819) was an influential German philosopher, literary figure, and socialite. He is notable for popularizing nihilism, a term coined by Obereit in 1787, and promoting it as the prime faul ...
. In Munich she again met her friend Pauline Gotter, who in 1812 had married the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling, and in her house met the Swedish poet
Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom (19 January 1790 in Åsbo, Östergötland – 21 July 1855) was a Swedish romantic poet, and a member of the Swedish Academy. Life He was son of a country parson, was born in the province of Ostergotland on 19 Janua ...
. Previously under the influence of the academy director Langer, Louise's painting style now became more independent as she moved from copying others' artworks to studying nature (which she had previously neglected). Even so, she still copied Raphael's "
Portrait of Bindo Altoviti The ''Portrait of Bindo Altoviti'' is a painting finished around 1515 by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. It is housed in the National Gallery of Art of Washington, D.C., United States. Bindo Altoviti was a rich banker born in Rome ...
" in Munich for the Duke and produced a drawing of the friezes of
Leo von Klenze Leo von Klenze (Franz Karl Leopold von Klenze; 29 February 1784, Buchladen (Bockelah / Bocla) near Schladen – 26 January 1864, Munich) was a German neoclassicist architect, painter and writer. Court architect of Bavarian King Ludwig I, Leo ...
's Apollotempel at the
Nymphenburg Palace The Nymphenburg Palace (german: Schloss Nymphenburg, Palace of the Nymphs) is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park it consti ...
for Goethe. The duke then granted her request for a further scholarship in Italy, again of 400 Taler.


Italy (1818-23)

On 20 September 1818 Louise set out on her trip to Italy, arriving in Rome the following 30 October. She lived in the artistic circle of the city (usually based on the
Pincian Hill The Pincian Hill (; it, Pincio ; la, Mons Pincius) is a hill in the northeast quadrant of the historical centre of Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal, overlooking the Campus Martius. It was outside the original boundaries of th ...
), also frequented by
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 ...
and the brothers Johann and
Philipp Veit Philipp Veit (13 February 179318 December 1877) was a German Romantic painter and one of the main exponents of the Nazarene movement. It is to Veit that the credit of having been the first to revive the nearly forgotten technique of fresco ...
. In the German colony of painters and sculptors she found a way in to the artistic and social life of the city and its expatriates. She was welcomed into the houses of
Barthold Georg Niebuhr Barthold Georg Niebuhr (27 August 1776 – 2 January 1831) was a Danish–German statesman, banker, and historian who became Germany's leading historian of Ancient Rome and a founding father of modern scholarly historiography. By 1810 Niebuhr wa ...
(Prussian envoy to the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
) and of the wife of
Wilhelm von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (, also , ; ; 22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin, which was named after ...
. In spring 1819 she spent many months in Naples and in autumn 1820 in Florence, in order to copy
Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...
's "
Madonna del Granduca The ''Madonna del Granduca'' is a Madonna painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. It was probably painted in 1505, shortly after Raphael had arrived in Florence. The influence of Leonardo da Vinci, whose works he got to know there, can ...
" and " Madonna del cardellino" (both in the
Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...
) for grand-duke Charles Augustus. The painter Friedrich Preller was so impressed by her copies that he called them "the best known copies I know". A further copy, of " The Tempi Madonna", was bought by king Louis I of Bavaria in 1826 for the
Pinakothek A pinacotheca (Latin borrowing from grc, πινακοθήκη, pinakothēkē = grc, πίναξ, pinax, (painted) board, tablet, label=none + grc, θήκη, thēkē, box, chest, label=none) was a picture gallery in either ancient Greece or anc ...
in Munich. In late autumn 1821 she left Florence for Rome. In April and May 1822 she copied "The Violin Players", with the copy later a part of the collection at the
Schloss Sanssouci Sanssouci () is a historical building in Potsdam, near Berlin. Built by Prussian King Frederick the Great as his summer palace, it is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and ...
in
Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
. At the same time she began her own painting "Saint Elizabeth handing out alms". In reports Louise called her time in Italy the happiest of her life, but this period came to a sudden end when in 1823 she received news that her father had fallen seriously ill and she had to return to Germany.


Return to Weimar

Only on her return to Weimar did she find time to complete her work "Saint Elizabeth handing out alms". On the recommendation of Goethe and Johann Heinrich Meyer duke Charles Augustus put her in charge of the education of his daughter Maria and Augusta. On her father's death she was able to return to Italy, but was prevented from doing so when in 1824 Charles Augustus made her custodian of the grand-ducal art collection in Weimar's Grossen Jägerhaus. Except for a few journeys Louise remained in Weimar and was highly appreciated in society circles. She led a lively correspondence with personalities such as
Philipp Veit Philipp Veit (13 February 179318 December 1877) was a German Romantic painter and one of the main exponents of the Nazarene movement. It is to Veit that the credit of having been the first to revive the nearly forgotten technique of fresco ...
and his wife Karoline and wife Dorothea Schlegel, among others. It was mainly due to her that Herr von Quandt created the Saxonian Art Association and that Goethe gave that association his active support. Right up to his death in 1832 Goethe was grateful to Louise for her promotion of his career (and vice versa) and his death put her into deep mourning. With Mrs von Bardeleben, in autumn 1832, she went on a second trip to Italy, lasting just over a year. Above all she maintained her relations with the painter Friedrich Preller, who inspired her to paint religious and devotional paintings, which diverted her from artistic work after her return from Italy, with her increasing blindness towards the end of her life also preventing the completion of many works.


Literary work

Before her death she wrote her autobiography ''"Erinnerungen aus dem Leben der Malerin Louise Seidler"'' (''Memories from the Life of the Painter Louise Seidler''), published by Hermann Uhde in 1873 and which is still one of the most important art historical sources for the time.


Works


Copies

*''Saint Cecilia'' by Carlo Dolce *''
Portrait of Bindo Altoviti The ''Portrait of Bindo Altoviti'' is a painting finished around 1515 by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. It is housed in the National Gallery of Art of Washington, D.C., United States. Bindo Altoviti was a rich banker born in Rome ...
'', 1818 *'' The Madonna del Gran Duca'', 1820 *'' The Madonna with the Goldfinch'', 1820 *'' The Madonna Tempi'', 1821 *''The Violin Players'', 1822


Portraits

*Duke Augustus and family, 1811 *Goethe, 1811 * Wilhelmine Herzlieb File:Louise Seidler - J. W. Goethe 1811.jpg,
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
(1811) Image:MinchenHerzlieb1.jpg, Wilhelmine Herzlieb File:Karl Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.jpg,
Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , image = Held Carl Alexander Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach@Weimar Schlossmuseum.jpg , image_size = , caption = , succession = Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , reign = 8 July 1853 – 5 January 1901 , predecessor = ...
File:Louise Seidler - Ruhe auf der Flucht.jpg, Resting During the
Flight into Egypt The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 2:13– 23) and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the i ...


Other works

*Altarpiece of the ''Heiligen Rochus'', 1816 *Pastel drawing of Sylvie von Ziegesar *Drawing of the friezes at the Apollotempel, 1818 *''Saint Elisabeth handing out alms'', 1823


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seidler, Louise 1786 births 1866 deaths Artists from Jena People from Saxe-Weimar 19th-century German painters Court painters German women painters 19th-century German women artists