Peter von Cornelius

Peter von Cornelius (23 September 1783, Düsseldorf – 6 March 1867, Berlin) was a German painter and one of the main representatives of the Nazarene movement. He was the uncle of the composer Peter Cornelius (1824–1874).

Life

Early years Cornelius was born in Düsseldorf. From the age of twelve he attended drawing classes at the Düsseldorf Academy. His father, who was superintendent of the Düsseldorf gallery and professor at the academy, died in 1799, after which Cornelius supported his family by his work as a portraitist and illustrator. In a letter to the Count Raczynski he wrote:It fell to the lot of an elder brother and myself to watch over the interests of a numerous family. It was at this time that it was attempted to persuade my mother that it would be better for me to devote myself to the trade of a goldsmith than to continue to pursue painting – in the first place, in consequence of the time necessary to qualify me for the art, and in the next, because there were already so many painters. My dear mother, however, rejected all this advice, and I felt myself impelled onward by an uncontrollable enthusiasm, to which the confidence of my mother gave new strength, which was supported by the continual fear that I should be removed from the study of that art I loved so much.

His earliest major work was the decoration of the choir of the church of St Quirinus at Neuss, commissioned by Canon Wallraff of Cologne in 1803. He moved to Frankfurt in 1809, and worked there until going to Rome two years later. To comprehend and appreciate thoroughly the magnitude of the work which Cornelius accomplished for Germany, we must remember that at the beginning of the 19th century Germany had no national school of art. Germany was in painting and sculpture behind all the rest of Europe. Yet in less than half a century Cornelius founded a great school, revived mural painting, and turned the gaze of the art world towards Munich. The German revival of mural painting had its effect upon England, as well as upon other European nations, and led to the famous cartoon competitions held in Westminster Hall, and ultimately to the partial decoration of the Houses of Parliament. In November 1841, when the latter work was in contemplation, Cornelius, in response to invitations, visited England. His opinion was in every way favourable to the carrying out of the project, and even in respect of the durability of fresco in the English climate.

Cornelius, in his teaching, always inculcated a close and rigorous study of nature, but he understood by the study of nature something more than constantly making studies from life; he meant the study of nature with an inquiring and scientific spirit. Study nature, was the advice he once gave, in order that you may become acquainted with its essential forms.