Friedrich Wilhelm Ternite (5 September 1786,

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; East Low German: ''Niegenstrelitz'') is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 17 ...

– 22 October 1871,

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 o ...

) was a German portrait painter,

miniaturist A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

and

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. In Berlin, he served as a

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

and inspector of the Royal Art Gallery.

Biography

As early as 1803, he took drawing lessons at the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...

with Friedrich Georg Weitsch. After 1810, he received financial support from King

Friedrich Wilhelm III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, w ...

and became the King's portrait painter. In the

German Campaign of 1813 The German campaign (german: Befreiungskriege , lit=Wars of Liberation ) was fought in 1813. Members of the Sixth Coalition, including the German states of Austria and Prussia, plus Russia and Sweden, fought a series of battles in Germany ag ...

, he was a volunteer army officer and was among the Prussian troops that entered Paris in 1814. On the recommendation of Karl August von Hardenberg, the King commissioned him to head the unit charged with recovering art treasures that had been looted from Germany during the French occupation. He was also part of the group authorized to acquire 158 paintings from the " Giustiniani Collection" at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. These, together with the recovered works, became the basis for the Royal Art Gallery (now part of the Gemäldegalerie). With the King's support, Ternite remained in Paris until 1823, continuing his artistic education in the workshops of Jacques-Louis David and Antoine-Jean Gros. He also produced illustrations for ''Mariä Krönung und die Wunder des heiligen Dominicus'' by

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 ...

and made several copies of works by

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. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

. Upon returning to Germany, he made the acquaintance of Count

Gustav Adolf Wilhelm von Ingenheim Gustav Adolf Wilhelm Graf von Ingenheim (2 January 1789, Berlin4 September 1855, Wiesbaden) was a prominent German art collector. Biography He was the son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and his morganatic wife, Julie von Voss, who had ...

, a collector of early Italian art, and accompanied him to Rome. There, he discovered some previously unknown frescoes by

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in orde ...

. He later visited Naples and made drawings of the ruins at Herculaneum and Pompeii. These were published at the urging of the Archaeologist, Karl August Böttiger, although the interest in Greek and Roman art was diminishing at the time they appeared. In 1826, he went back to work as a portrait painter for the Royal Family and became a member of the Berlin Art Society. Shortly after, he was appointed "Master of the Royal Works of Art" (inspector of the Royal Collection); a position he held until his retirement in 1864. In 1860, he was awarded the

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle (german: Roter Adlerorden) was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful se ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ternite, Wilhelm 1786 births 1871 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German portrait painters German lithographers Court painters People from Neustrelitz

Biography

References

Further reading

External links