Emilie Linder (Oct. 11, 1797 – Feb. 12, 1867) was a Swiss painter and art patron.

Early life

Linder was born in

Basel, Switzerland , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

in 1797. She was the daughter of painter Franz Lukas Linder and Anna Maria Dienast; the Linders were an established family of

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

manufacturers in Basel. Orphaned by age fifteen, her grandfather Johann Konrad Dienast-Burckhardt took her in and encouraged her talent for art.

Education and Career

In 1824, Linder moved to Munich for artistic education. While she visited the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, because she was a woman, she could not attend the academy herself. Her primary teacher was

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 and Roman mythology and Bible ...

Joseph Schlotthauer. Her family friend Johann Nepomuk von Ringseis introduced Linder to many of the artists active in Munich. She was wooed by

Franz Xaver von Baader Franz von Baader (27 March 1765 – 23 May 1841), born Benedikt Franz Xaver Baader, was a German Catholic philosopher, theologian, physician, and mining engineer. Resisting the empiricism of his day, he denounced most Western philosophy s ...

and

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz ...

, but did not marry either of them. She traveled to northern and central Italy in 1825 with Schlotthauer and his wife. Between 1828 and 1831, Linder lived in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and studied Italian paintings. While in Italy, Linder befriended

Johann Friedrich Overbeck Johann Friedrich Overbeck (3 July 1789 – 12 November 1869) was a German painter. As a member of the Nazarene movement, he also made four etchings. Early life and education Born in Lübeck, his ancestors for three generations had been Protes ...

, leader of the

Nazarene movement The epithet Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th-century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive spirituality in art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a biblical manner of c ...

of German Romantic Christian painters. In 1832, Linder settled permanently in Munich. She became well-known as a painter and as an intellectual hostess of salons. Clemens Brentano2

Paintings

Linder mostly painted anonymous devotional pictures and altarpieces, which she gave to destitute churches. Though she was known for her paintings during her lifetime, her habit of not signing her paintings has concealed her impact in German religious painting. She also painted portraits of friends and nobility. Her 1835 portrait of Brentano is widely used, though it is often uncredited. Today, it is in the Munich Stadtmuseum.

Conversion

Linder converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1843. Her artwork became entirely religious.

Art Collection

Linder used her wealth to collect and commission paintings by the Nazarenes and other, lesser-known painters. She commissioned Schlotthauer to travel to Italy to copy Leonardo da Vinci's ''

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

'' in 1834.

Cultural impact

Emilie Linder - Portrait de la Baronne von Eichthal

Linder was one of Brentano's main correspondents during his religious seclusion. Franz von Baader dedicated his "Forty Sentences from a Religious Erotic" to her in 1831. In 1860, Ernst von Lasaulx dedicated his “Philosophy of Fine Arts" to her.

Legacy

In 1847, Linder donated her entire art collection, including many important Nazarene paintings, to the public art gallery in Basel. Today, her works are in the

Kunstmuseum Basel The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a heritage site of national significance. Its lineage extends back to ...

. She also donated a sizable fortune to the Catholic diocese in Basel, which enabled them to build the Church of , which was the first Catholic church built in Basel after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linder, Emilie Swiss women artists Swiss Roman Catholics 1797 births 1867 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism People from Basel-Stadt Religious painters