Friedrich August Moritz Retzsch (December 9, 1779 - June 11, 1857) was a German

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

, draughtsman, 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 ...

. Retzsch was born in the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

capital

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. He joined the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (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 institution is the product o ...

in 1798 under

Cajetan Toscani Cajetan and Kajetan is the Anglicized and Germanized form of the Italian given name Gaetano. People with this name include: * Thomas Cajetan (1469–1534), Italian Dominican theologian, cardinal, and opponent of Martin Luther * Saint Cajetan (Gae ...

and

Józef Grassi Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

, later working autodidactically, copying the famous pictures of the Gemäldegalerie, among them a copy of the '' Sixtinian Madonna''. He was made a member of the Academy in 1817 and professor in 1824. The Cotta publishing house commissioned illustrations for

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatis ...

's ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The wiktionary:erudite, erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a ...

'' (26 plates), which made him financially independent. Goethe liked his work, and he illustrated works by other famous authors, most notably

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

's ''Lied von der Glocke'' (43 plates), a ''

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Gallery'' (80 plates), and

Bürger Bürger or Buerger is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Gottfried August Bürger, German poet * Heinrich Bürger, German physicist and biologist * Heinrich Otto Wilhelm Bürger, German zoologist * Karl-Heinz Bürger, German S ...

's ''Ballads'' (15 plates). He also did oil paintings on classical subjects, and portraits. Many of his works were created in a house in the Lößnitz, with a view of the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Rep ...

Valley. As a

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...

maker, he was a member of the Saxon wine association from 1799 onwards. Retzsch died in Oberlössnitz/

Radebeul Radebeul ( hsb, Radobyle) is a town (''große Kreisstadt'') in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well known for its viticulture, a museum dedicated to writer Karl May, and a narro ...

Notes

References

*''Das Winzerfest der Weinbaugesellschaft im Königreich Sachsen am 25.10.1840'', Meinhold & Söhne, Dresden *Neidhardt, H.J., ''Die Malerei der Romantik in Dresden'', Seemann Verlag. Leipzig, 1976 *H. Heine, ''

Die Harzreise ''Die Harzreise'' ("The Harz Journey") is a travel report by German poet and author Heinrich Heine on a journey to the Harz mountains. Compiled in autumn 1824, it was first published as a serial in January and February 1826 in the magazine ''Der ...

'', Ph. Reclam jun. Verlag Leipzig, 16th edn., 1961, p. 48 *Bäumel, J., ''Vom landesherrlichen Bacchus-Triumph zum Aufzug der "Hofewintzer"'', in: ''600 Jahre Hoflößnitz, historische Weingutsanlage'', S.125-139, M. Sandstein Verl. Dresden, 2001; Vogel, G.H., ''Vivat Bacchus, Bacchus lebe ...'', pp. 154–162. *

External links

* 1779 births 1857 deaths German draughtsmen German engravers 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists German male painters 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists Dresden Academy of Fine Arts faculty People from the Electorate of Saxony {{Germany-painter-stub