Christian Ferdinand Hartmann (14 July 1774,

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

– 6 January or June 1842, Dresden) was a German portrait and Classical history painter.

Biography

He was the youngest son of the Ducal finance councilor, and his wife Juliane Friederike née Spittler (1736–1799), daughter of the Mayor of Cannstatt. Three of his brothers also became well-known: , a State Councilor, , a paleontologist, and , an industrial entrepreneur. His father's home was also a literary salon, frequented by many notable writers, including Goethe,

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

and Hölderlin. From 1786 to 1794, he studied painting at the

Hohe Karlsschule Hohe Karlsschule (''Karl's High School'') was the strict military academy founded by Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart, Germany. It was first founded in 1770 as a military orphanage, but then converted into a military academy in 1773 f ...

in Stuttgart. He spent the years 1794 to 1798 in Rome, on a study trip, where his choice of style was influenced by Asmus Carstens. Upon returning, he became a member of the

State Academy of Fine Arts State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

. From 1803 to 1809, he was in the employ of Princess Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in Dresden. The following year, he was appointed a Professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. His students there included and Woldemar Hottenroth. During his stay with the Princess, he made the acquaintance of the writer, Heinrich von Kleist. It has been suggested that their friendship helped inspire Kleist to write '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', as Hartmann's only sister, Henriette (1762-1820), had married the lawyer (and amateur artist), , whose family had a long history in

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

. He made a second visit to Rome from 1820 to 1823. In 1825, he was named a member of the Board of Directors of the Dresden Academy.

Sources

* * Georg Himmelheber: "Lavater, die Hartmanns und eine unbekannte Zeichnung von Nicolas Guibal". In: ''Zeitschrift für Württembergische Landesgeschichte'' #64 (2005), pp. 199–210. * * Edwin H. Zeydel: "Der Maler Ferdinand Hartmann und Ludwig Tiecks Ausgabe der Schriften Kleists. (Mit zwei unbekannten Briefen Tiecks". In: ''Jahrbuch der Kleist-Gesellschaft'', 1933–1937. Edited by Georg Minde-Pouet and Julius Petersen. (''Schriften der Kleist-Gesellschaft'', Vol.17), pp. 95–97.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartmann, Ferdinand 1774 births 1842 deaths 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists German portrait painters Mythological painters Academic staff of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts Artists from Stuttgart 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists