Ferdinand Franz Wallraf Egidius Mengelberg

Egidius Mengelberg (8 April 1770,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

- 26 October 1849, Cologne) was a German portrait painter,

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

and art teacher.

Life and work

His family was originally from

Linz am Rhein Linz am Rhein (, ) is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the river Rhine near Remagen, approx. 25 km southeast of Bonn and has about 6,000 inhabitants. It is the s ...

, where it can be traced back to the 16th century. At the age of thirteen, he took lessons from Johann Peter von Langer in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. Three years later, he started his own drawing school in Cologne. In 1790, he copied works at the on behalf of

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria Charles Theodore (; 11 December 1724 – 16 February 1799) was a German nobleman of the Palatinate-Sulzbach, Sulzbach branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He became Count Palatine of Sulzbach at the age of six following the death of his father J ...

, for a copper engraving catalog of the collection. During the French occupation of the Left Bank of the Rhine, he lived in

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, where he painted portraits of French military personnel. In 1800, he went to

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...

, where his father was living with his stepmother. It was a growing industrial city so, in a short time, he was able to establish himself as a fashionable portraitist. When

Heinrich Christoph Kolbe Heinrich Christoph Kolbe (2 April 1771 – 16 January 1836) was a German painter. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Life Kolbe was born and died in Düsseldorf. After his education at the 'old' Kunstakademie Düssel ...

returned to Düsseldorf in 1811, Mengelberg contacted him, eager to acquire the techniques Kolbe had learned in Paris. He began to imitate Kolbe's style in such an obvious way, that Kolbe angrily rejected him and refused to continue his lessons. As a result, Mengelberg turned to designing wallpapers, wall murals, and furnishings for the wealthy families of Elberfeld. During this time, he fell in love with Anne Lisette Risse, whose strict

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

parents would not allow her to marry a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In 1813, they eloped to Düsseldorf, where their first son, Johann Edmund Egidius, was born in January 1814. After she became pregnant with their second son,

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

(who would also become a painter), her parents relented and agreed to a formal marriage, which took place in 1816. In 1822, they settled in Cologne and he founded the "Elementar-Zeichenschule für Bauleute und Professionalisten" (Elementary Drawing School for Builders and Professionals), a private Sunday school where unskilled workers were taught various arts and crafts, free of charge. He eventually had several hundred students. He operated the school until his death in 1849. He was interred at the Melaten cemetery. A street in the district of Cologne has been named after him. The famous orchestra conductor,

Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

, was his great-grandson.

Sources

* Johann Jakob Merlo: ''Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Werken kölnischer Künstler''. Heberle, Köln 1850
S. 285
* * Friedrich Everhard von Mering, Ludwig Reischert: ''Zur Geschichte der Stadt Köln am Rhein: Von ihrer Gründung bis zur Gegenwart.'' Joh. Wilh. Dieß, Cologne, 183
Vol.1, pg. 278
* Marie-Luise Baum: "Egidius Mengelberg", In: ''Wuppertaler Biographien'', 10th ed., Wuppertal, 1971 * Michael Werling: ''Architekturlehrer der FH Köln Teil I / Die Ehemaligen'', 35th anniversary of the Dept. of Architecture, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, 2006

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mengelberg, Egidius 1770 births 1849 deaths 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists German portrait painters German interior designers Painters from Cologne 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists