Hermann Fidel Winterhalter (23 September 1808 – 24 February 1891) was a German painter, younger brother of the portrait painter

Franz Xaver Winterhalter Franz Xaver Winterhalter (20 April 1805 – 8 July 1873) was a German painter and lithography, lithographer, known for his flattering portraits of royalty and upper-class society in the mid-19th century. His name has become associated with fashio ...

(1805–73).

Life

Hermann Fidel Winterhalter was born in the small village of Menzenschwand (now part of

Sankt Blasien St. Blasien (; sometimes spelled in full as Sankt Blasien) is a small town located in the Waldshut (district), Waldshut district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Southern Black Forest, 17 km northeast of Waldshut-Tieng ...

) in the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

. His father, Fidel Winterhalter, made him follow a career as a painter in the footsteps of his older brother. Hermann Winterhalter was first trained as a

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 ...

and later went to study painting in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

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, ...

. He settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he assisted his brother and exhibited at the Salon 1838-41, 1847 and 1869. So close was Hermann Winterhalter to his brother that not only his work but also his personality is hard to disassociate from his most famous sibling. There was no professional rivalry or personal friction in the many years they worked together. Hermann was an immense support to Franz Xaver's successful international career, and took charge of the latter's studio in Paris while he was abroad. He lived independently and had his own personality and points of view. In the 1850s, Hermann was more independent and developed a small portrait practice of his own. Among his works are '' Young Girl from Ariccia'' and the portrait of his Parisian patron Nicolas-Louis Planat de la Faye that is in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. After the fall of the Second Empire, both brothers decided to retire in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

. Franz Xaver died in 1873; Hermann survived his brother for almost twenty years, dying in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

on 24 February 1891.

Gallery

File:Three demoiselles de la famille de Chateaubourg.jpg, Three demoiselles de la famille de Chateaubourg by Hermann Fidel Winterhalter, oil on canvas, 1850. File:Hermann Winterhalter Portrait of Princess Charlotte of Belgium.jpg, Portrait of Princess

Charlotte of Belgium Charlotte of Mexico (; ; 7 June 1840 – 19 January 1927), known by the Spanish version of her name, Carlota, was by birth a princess of Belgium and member of the House of Wettin in the branch of House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Saxe-Coburg ...

(1840-1927), 1848 File:Hermann Winterhalter (1808-91) - Simplicity - RCIN 404782 - Royal Collection.jpg, Simplicity, 1843 File:Hermann Winterhalter (1808-91) - Head of a Young Woman - RCIN 403685 - Royal Collection.jpg, Head of a Young Woman, 1849

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winterhalter, Hermann 1808 births 1891 deaths People from Sankt Blasien People from the Grand Duchy of Baden 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters