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Ludwig Gruner

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Wilhelm HeinrichLudwig Gruner(24 February 1801 - 27 February 1882) was a German artist, engraver,[1]architect and art historian, who also served as director of theKupferstich-Kabinett, Dresden.His art historical writings were mostly dominated by his admiration of Raphael and the Italian Renaissance.

Life[edit]

Born inDresden,[2]he initially wanted to become a decorative painter, a plan scotched in the mid-1840s by an eye problem.[3]He began his studies in 1815 under Klinger before enrolling at theDresden AcademyunderEphraim Gottlieb Krüger.Patrons then funded a move to the academy inMilanin 1825, where he studied underGiuseppe LonghiandPietro Anderloni,and a journey through southern France and Spain in 1828, including three months studying theEscorial.Returning to Germany in 1832, he completed an engraving of the portrait ofAnton Raphael Mengsbefore a journey to England and Scotland, where he saw a number of Madonnas afterRaphaeland atBlenheim PalaceThe Exposition of Moses.[4]

From 1836 to 1843 he returned to Italy, this time staying in Rome, making engravings using the techniques of the 16th-century engraverMarcantonio Raimondi[5]and publishing sets of engravings afterRaphael's works in the dome of theChigi ChapelatSanta Maria del Popolo[6]and after the ceilingfrescoesin theStanza di Eliodoroat the Vatican. He returned to England in 1842 to make drawings from theRaphael Cartoonsand found favour withAlbert, Prince ConsortandQueen Victoria.[7]He worked for Albert from 1841 to 1855 and was appointed Victoria's art advisor and dealer in 1845, helping acquire around sixty paintings and sculptures for theRoyal Collectionand leading on the decoration ofOsborne HouseandBuckingham Palace.[8][9]He collaborated withElmslie William Dallason the decoration of the garden pavilion at Buckingham Palace in 1841.

From 1845 to 1848 he lived in Rome again before being appointed director of the Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden on 2 July 1858, also receiving a professorship at the academy there (Ernst Mohnwas one of his students) and becoming a member of the gallery commission. He began buying valuable Spanish paintings for its collection in London as early as 1863 - they had originated in the collection ofLouis Philippe of France.He travelled to London almost every summer, working for theArundel Society,decorating the ceiling of theBlue Roomin Windsor Castle after Albert's death there in 1861 and collaborating withA. J. Humbertto design both theDuchess of Kent's Mausoleum(1860)[10]and theRoyal Mausoleum, Frogmore(1862)[11]Excavation work started on the site of the mausoleum on 27 January 1862, the final plans having been approved by Victoria that day.[11]Victoria had had previous meetings with Humbert and Gruner to finalise and approve their designs for Frogmore.[11]Gruner himself died in Dresden.

Selected artworks[edit]

Wilhelm Heinrich Ludwig Gruner, Viterbo, 1837

Selected writings[edit]

  • The decorations of the garden pavilion in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.London 1846,doi:10.11588/diglit.33817.
  • Specimens of ornamental art selected from the best models of the classical epochs.1850
  • Fresco decorations and stuccoes of churches & palaces in Italy during the fifteenth & sixteenth centuries with descriptions.Thomas Mc Lean, London 1854 (englisch,Ludwig Gruneris available for free viewing and download at theInternet Archive).
  • Adolf Gutbier, Wilhelm Lübke:Rafael-Werk: sämmtliche Tafelbilder und Fresken des Meisters in Nachbildungen nach Kupferstichen und Photographien.Adolf Gutbier, Dresden 1875 (Mit Stichen von Gruner,Ludwig Gruneris available for free viewing and download at theInternet Archive).

As director of the Königlichen Kupferstichkabinett he also published:

  • Die Basreliefs an der Vorderseite des Doms von Orvieto, Marmor-Bildwerke der Schule der Pisaner.Leipzig 1858 (Text von Braun);
  • „Lo Scaffale “, or presses in the sacristy of the church of Sta Maria delle Grazie at Milano. Illustrations of the painted decorations by Bernardino Luini.London 1859–1860.
  • Verzeichniss der im Königlichen Museum zu Dresden aufgestellten Original-Zeichnungen alter und neuer Meister.C. C. Meinhold & Söhne, Dresden 1862 (books.google.de).
  • The Green Vaults Dresden, illustrations of the choicests works in that museum of art.C. C. Weinhold and sons, Dresden 1862 (Ludwig Gruneris available for free viewing and download at theInternet Archive).
  • The Terracotta architecture of North Italy: (XIIth-XV centuries); pourtrayed as examples for imitation in other countries; from careful drawings and restorations.John Murray, London 1867 (Ludwig Gruneris available for free viewing and download at theInternet Archive).

References[edit]

  1. ^(in German)'Gruner, Ludwig, Kupferstecher.'In:Meyers Konversations-Lexikon. 4. Auflage. Band 8,Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, Leipzig/Wien 1885–1892, page 506.
  2. ^(in German)"Entry in theSächsischen Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden".
  3. ^Hans Wolfgang Singer: 'Gruner, Ludwig (Wilhelm Heinrich Ludw.).' In: Ulrich Thieme, Fred. C. Willis (ed.):Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Begründet von Ulrich Thieme und Felix Becker. Band 15: Gresse–Hanselmann.E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1922, pages 147–148
  4. ^(in German)Hans Wolfgang Singer: Gruner, Ludwig (Wilhelm Heinrich Ludw.). In: Ulrich Thieme, Fred. C. Willis (ed.s):Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Begründet von Ulrich Thieme und Felix Becker. Band 15: Gresse–Hanselmann.E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1922, pages 147–148
  5. ^Böckmann, Barbara (2021)."Ludwig Gruner's Drawings after Raphael's Cartoons for the Tapestries in the Vatican: A Discovery in the Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden".arthistoricum.net.Translated by Daniel Böckmann.doi:10.11588/artdok.00007227.RetrievedFebruary 1,2024.
  6. ^Mosaics of the cupola in the "Cappella Chigiana" Sta. Maria del Popolo in Rome designed by Raffaelle Sanzio d’Urbino.Paul & Dominic Colnaghi & Co., London 1850
  7. ^"Biography".British Museum.
  8. ^"Queen Victoria & Albert: Art and Love. In: The Art Newspaper – International art news and events. 2010".
  9. ^"Biography and works".Royal Academy of Arts.
  10. ^Helen Rappaport(2003).Queen Victoria: A Biographical Companion.ABC-CLIO. p. 153.ISBN978-1-85109-355-7.
  11. ^abcPetra Schultheiss (2018).Like an Ancient Shrine: Mid-19th Century Architectural Theory, the Memorial Mosaics for Prince Albert and the Queen Victoria's Position as Female Sovereign.Georg Olms Verlag. p. 243.ISBN978-3487155401.
  12. ^"Catalogue entry".

External links[edit]

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