Richard Muther (1860–1909) was a German critic and historian of art. He was born 25 February 1860 in Ohrdruf in Germany and died 28 June 1909 in Wölfelsgrund (now in Poland). He studied 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 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 ...

, where he took his doctor's degree. In 1895 he became professor of art history at the

University of Breslau A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. He was one of the more prominent German art historians of his time, although he has been described as more popular with the general public than with the art fraternity of his day. The Russian artist Alexandre Benois wrote of Muther's appeal by saying that his ideas, "became common property and permeated the society so much that even the most conservative people started using 'Muther's parlance'". He wrote ''Geschichte der Malerei'' (five volumes, 1899–1900); which appeared in English as ''The history of painting from the fourth to the early nineteenth century'' (2 volumes, 1907), translated and edited by George Kriehn. In 1907 ''The history of modern painting'' (4 volumes) was published in English. He was also the author of books on

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

(1900), Lucas Cranach (1903),

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

(1904),

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...

(1904),

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptised 6 June 15996 August 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the Noble court, court of King Philip IV of Spain, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He i ...

(1907),

Jean-François Millet Jean-François Millet (; 4 October 1814 – 20 January 1875) was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realis ...

(1907) and

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

(1908). His ''Die deutsche Bücherillustration der Gothik und Frührenaissance'' was later translated into English and published as ''German book illustration of the Gothic period and the early Renaissance (1460–1530)'' (1972).

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* * * * German art historians 1860 births 1909 deaths German male non-fiction writers Academic staff of the University of Breslau People from Gotha (district) 19th-century German historians 20th-century German historians {{Germany-art-historian-stub