Christoph Nathe (3 January 1753, Nieder-Bielau - 10 December 1806, Schadewalde) was a German miniaturist,

watercolorist Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

and

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

Life and work

He was born to a family of farmers. After completing his secondary education, he took his first drawing lessons from . His work was noticed by the

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, , who became his patron. When Gersdorff went to

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 ...

, In 1774, he made it possible for Nathe to study at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

with

Adam Friedrich Oeser Adam Friedrich Oeser (17 February 1717 in Pressburg – 18 March 1799 in Leipzig) was a German etcher, painter and sculptor. Biography Oeser worked and studied in Pressburg (student of Georg Raphael Donner in sculpture) and Vienna at the V ...

. He also received professional advice from

Johann Friedrich Bause Johann Friedrich Bause (3 January 1738, Halle (Saale), Halle – 5 January 1814, Weimar) was a German copper engraver; primarily of portraits. Life and work He was initially self-taught. In 1759, he briefly worked in Augsburg, under the directi ...

, a portrait engraver. From 1783 to 1784, he accompanied the

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

, Karl Andreas von Meyer zu Knonow (1744-1797), a relative of Gersdorff's, on an extensive tour of Switzerland, which he later described as the high point of his life. The drawings he created while there were in great demand in Leipzig. Despite this, he felt that his financial situation was insecure so, in 1787, he left Leipzig to accept the position of Director at the Görlitz drawing school, and taught at the local gymnasium. He still travelled frequently, to acquire material for his drawings. In 1795, he married one of his students; Caroline von Meyer, who was Gersdorff's niece and brought a small fortune with her. She died only three years later. In 1799, thanks to his improved finances, he was able to retire from his positions and move to Lauban. He continued to work, however; executing a series of views of the

Riesengebirge The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech–Polish bord ...

for Queen Louise. An old friend from the Leipzig Academy,

Johann Christian Reinhart Johann Christian Reinhart (24 January 1761 – 9 June 1847) was a German painter and engraver. He was one of the founders, along with Joseph Anton Koch, of German romantic classical landscape painting. Biography Reinhart was born in Hof, Bava ...

, invited him to come to Rome in 1801. He spent some time learning Italian, and intended to relocate there, but his plans never came to fruition. He died in 1806, while taking a short hike near Schadewalde. The largest collection of his works is in the Graphische Kabinett at the Kulturhistorischen Museum Görlitz.

Sources

Biography and sources
@

Sächsische Biografie ''Sächsische Biografie'' (''SäBi)'' axon biographyis a biographical dictionary of noteworthy persons in the history of Saxony from the 10th century to the present. As of 2014 it contained entries for about 10,500 persons and about 1,250 biogra ...

Biography
@ Kulturstiftung * Ernst Scheyer: ''Christoph Nathe und die Landschaftskunst des ausgehenden 18. Jahrhunderts''. Würzburg : Verl. Kulturwerk Schlesien, 1958

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nathe, Christoph 1753 births 1806 deaths 18th-century German etchers 19th-century German etchers German watercolourists Silesian-German people People from Bielawa 18th-century German painters