Carl Gustav Carus (3 January 1789 – 28 July 1869) was a German

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

and painter, born in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, who played various roles during the

Romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. A friend of the writer

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on literary, political, and philosoph ...

, he was a many-sided man: a doctor, a naturalist, a scientist, a psychologist, and a landscape painter who studied under

Caspar David Friedrich Caspar David Friedrich (; 5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a German Romanticism, German Romantic Landscape painting, landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation, whose often symbolic, and anti ...

Life and work

In 1811 he graduated as a doctor of medicine and a doctor of philosophy. In 1814 he was appointed professor of obstetrics and director of the maternity clinic at the teaching institution for medicine and surgery in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. He wrote on art theory. From 1814 to 1817 he taught himself oil painting working under

, a

landscape painter. Subsequently, he studied under

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 ...

at the Oeser drawing academy. When the King of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II, made an informal tour of Britain in 1844, Carus accompanied him as his personal physician. It was not a state visit, but the King, with Carus, was the guest of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Windsor Castle, and Carus was able to visit many of the sights in London and the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, and meet others active in the field of scientific discoveries. They toured widely in England, Wales and Scotland, and afterwards Carus published, on the basis of his journal, ''The King of Saxony's Journey through England and Scotland, 1844''. He is best known to scientists for originating the concept of the

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

archetype The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main mo ...

, a

seminal Seminal, ultimately from Latin ''semen'', "seed", may refer to: *Relating to seeds *Relating to semen *A work, event or person having much social influence Social influence comprises the ways in which individuals adjust their behavior to meet th ...

idea in the development of Darwin's theory of

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

. In 1836, he was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. Carus is also noted for ''Psyche'' (1846). He developed a theory of landscape painting whose objective was the visualization of the inner workings of geological phenomena, which he called "Erdlebenbildkunst" (pictorial art of the life of the earth).

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

credited Carus with pointing to the unconscious as the essential basis of the psyche. :Although various philosophers, among them

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to many ...

Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...

, and Schelling, had already pointed very clearly to the problem of the dark side of the psyche, it was a physician who felt impelled, from his scientific and medical experience, to point to the ''unconscious'' as the essential basis of the psyche. This was C. G. Carus, the authority whom Eduard von Hartmann followed. (Jung 9591969, par. 259) Carus died in Dresden. He is buried in the Trinitatis-Friedhof (Trinitatis Cemetery) east of the city centre. The grave lies in the south-west section, against the southern wall.

Family

His daughter Charlotte Carus married the artist Ernst Rietschel.

Botanical Reference

Written works

;Zoology, entomology, comparative anatomy, evolution * ''Lehrbuch der Zootomie'' (1818, 1834). * ''Erläuterungstafeln zur vergleichenden Anatomie'' (1826–1855). * ''Von den äusseren Lebensbedingungen der weiss- und kaltblütigen Tiere'' (1824). * ''Über den Blutkreislauf der Insekten '' (1827). * ''Grundzüge der vergleichenden Anatomie und Physiologie'' (1828). * ''Lehrbuch der Physiologie für Naturforscher und Aerzte'' (1838) *''Zwölf Briefe über das Erdleben'' (1841). * ''Natur und Idee oder das Werdende und sein Gesetz''. 1861. ;Medical * ''Lehrbuch der Gynekologie '' (1820, 1838). * ''Grundzüge einer neuen Kranioskopie'' (1841). * ''System der Physiologie'' (1847–1849). * ''Erfahrungsresultate aus ärztlichen Studien und ärztlichen Wirken'' (1859). * ''Neuer Atlas der Kranioskopie'' (1864). ;Psychology, metaphysics, race, physiognomy * ''Vorlesungen über Psychologie'' (1831). * ''Psyche; zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Seele'' (1846, 1851). * ''Über Grund und Bedeutung der verschiedenen Formen der Hand in veschiedenen Personen'' (About the reason and significance of the various forms of hand in different persons)(1846). * ''Über die ungleiche Befähigung der verschiedenen Menschenstämme für höhere geistige Entwicklung'' (About the unequal aptitude of the different human tribes for higher mental development)''(''1849). * ''Physis. Zur Geschichte des leiblichen Lebens'' (1851). * ''Denkschrift zum 100jährigen Geburtstagsfeste Goethes. Über ungleiche Befähigung der verschiedenen Symbolik der menschlichen Gestalt'' (1852, 1858). * ''Über Lebensmagnetismus und über die magischen Wirkungen überhaupt'' (1857). * ''Über die typisch gewordenen Abbildungen menschlicher Kopfformen'' (1863). * ''Goethe dessen seine Bedeutung für unsere und die kommende Zeit'' (1863). * ''Lebenserinnerungen und Denkwürdigkeiten'' – 4 volumes (1865–1866). * ''Vergleichende Psychologie oder Geschichte der Seele in der Reihenfolge der Tierwelt'' (1866). ;Art * ''Neun Briefe über Landschaftsmalerei. Zuvor ein Brief von Goethe als Einleitung'' (1819–1831). * ''Die Lebenskunst nach den Inschriften des Tempels zu Delphi'' ( 1863). * ''Betrachtungen und Gedanken vor auserwählten Bildern der Dresdener Galerie'' (1867). ;Travel
''Sicilien und Neapel''
(1856). ;Translations * Carus' translation of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy'', ''Paradise'', Canto I. a
academia.edu

Art gallery

File:Carl Gustav Carus - Das Kolosseum bei Mondschein - ca1830.jpeg, The

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

in Moonlight File:Carl Gustav Carus - The Imperial Castle - Google Art Project.jpg, The Imperial Castle File:CarusSorrent.JPG, In Memory of

Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...

File:Carl Gustav Carus - Blick auf Dresden bei Sonnenuntergang.jpg, View of Dresden at Sunset File:Carl Gustav Carus - Barge Trip on the Elbe near Dresden (Morning on the Elbe) - Google Art Project.jpg, Barge Trip on the Elbe near Dresden File:Carl Gustav Carus - Balkon in Neapel - Google Art Project.jpg, Balcony Room with a View of the

Bay of Naples A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, 1829 or 1830. File:Carl Gustav Carus - Italienischer Mondschein (Rom, Peterskirche im Mondschein).jpg, Italian Moonshine (Rome, St. Peter's in Moonshine) File:Carl Gustav Carus - Tintern Abbey.jpg, Tintern Abbey File:Carl Gustav Carus - Italienische Fischer im Hafen von Neapel.jpg, Italian Fishermen in Port File:Carl Gustav Carus - Segelschiff (ca.1820).jpg, Sailboat File:Carl Gustav Carus - Vollmond bei Pillnitz.jpg, Full Moon near

Pillnitz Pillnitz is a quarter in the east of Dresden, Germany. It can be reached by bus, ship, walking along the river or by bicycle. Pillnitz is most famous for its Baroque palace and park, the Pillnitz Castle. Pillnitz Palace consists of the Rivers ...

File:Carl Gustav Carus - Woman on the Balcony - Google Art Project.jpg, Woman on the Balcony File:Carl Gustav Carus Stone Age Mound.jpg, Stone Age Mound File:Carl Gustav Carus - Das Atelierfenster.jpg, The Studio Window

References

Sources

* Jung, C.G. ( 9591969). ''The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious'', Collected Works, Volume 9, Part 1, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. .
"Carl GustavCarus"
''Art History: Romanticism'' *

External links

*
Caspar David Friedrich: Moonwatchers
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Carl Gustav Carus (no. 10–11)
German masters of the nineteenth century: paintings and drawings from the Federal Republic of Germany
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Carl Gustav Carus (no. 11–12) * * Carl Gustav Carus' translation of Dante Alighieri's Paradise, canto I, a
academia.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carus, Carl Gustav 1789 births 1869 deaths Artists from the Kingdom of Saxony German psychologists 19th-century German painters German male painters Presidents of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 19th-century German male artists Scientists from Leipzig Translators of Dante Alighieri