Philipp von Foltz (11 May 1805 – 5 August 1877) 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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Bingen am Rhein Bingen am Rhein () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The settlement's original name was Bingium, a Celtic languages, Celtic word that may have meant "hole in the rock", a description of the shoal behind the ...

. His father, Ludwig, a painter of some note, gave him his first art lessons. In 1825, he went to Munich, where he was accepted at the Academy of Fine Arts and studied with Peter von Cornelius. Soon, he was allowed to assist Cornelius with his

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 ...

es at the

Glyptothek The Glyptothek () is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig I to house his collection of Ancient Greek art, Greek and Roman art, Roman sculptures (hence γλυπτο- ''glypto-'' "sculp ...

and the Hofgarten. Later, he assisted Wilhelm Lindenschmit the Elder at the new Royal Palace, creating murals based on the ballads of

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

. At this time, he also began to create a series of oil paintings on historical subjects; notably one of King

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 ...

saying farewell on his way to Greece. In 1835, he took a study trip to Rome, where he created his monumental painting "Des Sängers Fluch" (The Singer's Curse), based on the poem by

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist, literary historian, lawyer and politician. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, b ...

. Upon his return, he was appointed a Professor at the Academy by King

Maximilian II of Bavaria Maximilian II (28 November 1811 – 10 March 1864) reigned as King of Bavaria between 1848 and 1864. Unlike his father, King Ludwig I, "King Max" was very popular and took a greater interest in the business of Government than in personal ext ...

. In thanks, he created two monumental canvases for the Maximilianeum. Between 1865 and 1875, he served as Director of the Royal Gallery, but was harshly criticized for his methods of restoration, which employed questionable chemical processes developed by Max von Pettenkofer, as well as the

overpainting Overpainting is the final layers of paint, over some type of underpainting, in a system of working in layers. It can also refer to later paint added by restorers, or an artist or dealer wishing to "improve" or update an old image—a very commo ...

of some canvases. Despite this, he was elevated to the nobility in 1869. His paintings are historically precise, but are now considered to be rather conservative and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. Foltz died in Munich in 1877.

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foltz, Philipp 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 1805 births 1877 deaths German history painters People from Bingen am Rhein