Hermann Prell (29 April 1854 – 18 May 1922) was a German

history painter History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek mythology, Greek and Roman my ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and professor at the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German language, German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institutio ...

Life and work

He was born at

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 ...

and studied under

Theodor Grosse Theodor Grosse (1829–1891) was a German historical painter. He was born at Dresden and studied at the Dresden Academy under Bendemann. For his encaustic decorations in the castle of Count Solms Wildenfels on the Mulde, he was awarded the tra ...

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 ...

and

Karl Gussow Karl Gussow (25 February 1843, Havelberg – 27 March 1907, Munich) was a German painter and university professor. Life and work His early inclination to art was encouraged by his family so, as soon as he completed his secondary schooling, he wa ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, then went to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to study

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

painting with

Hans von Marées Hans von Marées (24 December 1837 – 5 June 1887) was a German painter. Initially specialising in portraiture he later turned to mythological subjects. He spent the last years of his life in Italy. Life Marées was born into a banking family ...

, in which style he produced the bulk of his works, despite Marées skepticism regarding his talent.

Arnold Böcklin Arnold Böcklin (16 October 182716 January 1901) was a Swiss Symbolism (arts), Symbolist Painting, painter. His five versions of the ''Isle of the Dead (painting), Isle of the Dead'' inspired works by several late-Romantic composers. Biography ...

was also a major influence. He became a teacher at the Prussian Academy of Art in 1886. That same year, he married Sophie Sthamer, who was also a painter. In 1892, he was appointed a Professor at the

and remained there until his retirement in 1914. He ranks as one of the foremost German historical painters of his time. He is especially known for his successful use of

casein Casein ( , from Latin ''caseus'' "cheese") is a family of related phosphoproteins (CSN1S1, αS1, aS2, CSN2, β, K-casein, κ) that are commonly found in mammalian milk, comprising about 80% of the proteins in cow's milk and between 20% and 60% of ...

colors in fresco. In later life, he executed sculptures and collaborated on several projects with Otto Lessing, Christian Behrens and

Alfred Messel Alfred Messel (22 July 1853 – 24 March 1909) was a German architect at the turning point to the 20th century, creating a new style for buildings which bridged the transition from historicism to modernism. Messel was able to combine the structure ...

. He maintained a studio in a villa on the banks of Elbe from 1897 until his death in

Loschwitz Loschwitz is a borough (''Geography and urban development of Dresden#City structuring, Stadtbezirk'') of Dresden, Germany, incorporated in 1921. It consists of ten quarters (''Stadtteile''): Loschwitz is a villa quarter located at the slopes nor ...

in 1922. Many of his works, especially his easel paintings, were destroyed during the fire-bombing of Dresden in 1945. His brother was the landscape painter, and his son, Heinrich was a zoologist.

Notable works

*Eleven

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s symbolizing the "Principal Epochs in the History of Architecture" (1881–82, Banquet Hall, Architects' Union, Berlin) *"Justice" and "Valor" and "Henry IV Granting Privileges to Worms in 1074" (City Hall,

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

) *Cycles of historic episodes and allegorical scenes, respectively, in the city halls at

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

(1888–91) and Danzig (1896) and over the staircase of the Breslau Museum (1894) *Mythological scenes and sculptures in the

Albertinum The Albertinum () is a modern art museum. The sandstone-clad Renaissance Revival architecture, Renaissance Revival building is located on Brühl's Terrace in the historic center of Dresden, Germany. It is named after King Albert, King of Saxony, A ...

(1901–05) and the City Hall, Dresden (1908–12), and a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

with subjects from

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

in the throne room of the German Embassy in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Sources and further reading

* *

Hartwig Fischer Hartwig Fischer (born 14 December 1962) is a German art historian and museum director. From April 2016 until his resignation in August 2023 following a theft scandal, he was the director of the British Museum, the first non-British head of the ...

: ''Ein Wilhelminisches Gesamtkunstwerk auf dem Kapitol. Hermann Prell und die Einrichtung des Thronsaals in der Deutschen Botschaft zu Rom 1894–1899''. Hamburg 1998. * Christel Wünsch: ''Hermann Prell.'' In: ''Die Kunst hat nie ein Mensch allein besessen.'' Dreihundert Jahre Akademie der Künste und Hochschule der Künste Berlin. Catalog of the Berlin Art Academy, 1996, S. 317–319. * Adolf Rosenberg: ''Prell''. Bielefeld 1901 * Galland, Georg: ''Hermann Prell; fresken, skulpturen und tafelbilder des meisters'', Charlottenburg, Amelang’sche kunsthandlung 1904

External links

ArtNet: More works by Prell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prell, Hermann 1854 births 1922 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male sculptors Painters from Leipzig Artists from the Kingdom of Saxony Academic staff of the Prussian Academy of Arts 20th-century German sculptors 19th-century German sculptors