Karl Woermann (4 July 1844 – 4 February 1933) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

art historian and museum

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Biography

He was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, studied at various universities (art history at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

and

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 traveled widely. In 1871 Woermann participated in the so-called " Holbein convention" 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 ...

, at which a number of prominent art historians convened to determine which of two versions of

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; ; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a German-Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He ...

's " Meyer Madonna" was the original work. He was called to the academy at

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 ...

in 1874 as

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of the history of art and literature. In 1882 he became director of the picture gallery at

, of which he wrote the first

scientific Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

catalogue (1897). To the ''Geschichte der Malerei'', begun by

Alfred Woltmann Alfred Woltmann (18 May 1841 – 6 February 1880) was a German art historian. He was born at Charlottenburg, studied at Berlin and Munich, and was appointed professor of art history successively at the Karlsruhe Polytechnicum (1868) and at the un ...

, he contributed the part on antique painting, and after Woltmann's death completed the entire work. His work unites sound scholarship with sympathetic appreciation, and displays a generous attitude towards the research of others.

Published works

He wrote, besides several series of

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

s, works including: * ''Die Landschaft in der Kunst der alten Völker'' (1876) * ''Die antiken Odysseelandschaften vom Equilinischen Hügel in Rom'' (1877) * ''Kunst- und Naturskizzen aus Nord- und Südeuropa'' (1880) * ''Was uns die Kunstgeschichte lehrt'' (fourth edition, 1894) * ''Geschichte der Kunst aller Zeiten und Völker'' (three volumes, 1900–05)

External links

* German art historians 1844 births 1933 deaths 19th-century German historians 20th-century German historians Writers from Hamburg Heidelberg University alumni 19th-century German male writers 20th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers {{germany-art-historian-stub