Johann Joseph Schmeller (12 July 1796, Großobringen - 1 October 1841,

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

) was a German painter who was closely associated with

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

Biography

He was one of five children born to Johann Michael Schmeller (1773-1850), a forestry worker in

Ettersburg Ettersburg is a municipality in the Weimarer Land district of Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German state ...

, and his wife, Dorothea Eva Böhmel (1766–1814), from Buchfart. In 1807, his good reading and writing skills encouraged his father to send him to school in Weimar. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political un ...

, issued a call for the formation of a volunteer corps, and Schmeller joined. While in service, he met

Ferdinand Jagemann Ferdinand Jagemann (24 August 1780, Weimar – 9 January 1820, Weimar) was a German painter; known primarily for his portraits. Life He was the son of Christian Joseph Jagemann, the librarian for Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. ...

, who would later become a co-director of the Weimar Princely Free Drawing School. After the war, Jagemann took him into the school and supported him financially. After 1815, he worked as an assistant teacher. In 1818, he requested additional support from Goethe. As a test, he was hired to restore some wall paintings by Adam Friedrich Oeser in Goethe's greenhouses. He was engaged in that project until 1820. That was when Jagemann unexpectedly died, and his patronage ended. Nevertheless, he was able to afford a trip to Antwerp to further his studies; taking classes with Mathieu Ignace van Brée. He returned to Weimar in 1823, expressed his wish to work as a teacher at the Drawing School and was accepted. In 1827, Duke Karl August had seen a painting by Albrecht Dürer (The Crucifixion of Christ) and was looking for an artist to make a copy. He asked Goethe, who recommended Schmeller. After the publicity surrounding that project, Schmeller began to receive numerous portrait commissions from the Weimar bourgeoisie. The Duke died in 1828, but a visit from the physician and painter,

Carl Gustav Carus Carl Gustav Carus (3 January 1789 – 28 July 1869) was a German physiologist and painter, born in Leipzig, who played various roles during the Romantic era. A friend of the writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, he was a many-sided man: a doctor, ...

led to major commissions from the "" (Society of German Natural Scientists and Doctors). In 1836, on their behalf, he went to Jena, where he produced portraits of notable members, including Christian Ehrenberg,

Hinrich Lichtenstein Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein (10 January 1780 – 2 September 1857) was a German physician, explorer, botanist and zoologist. Biography Born in Hamburg, Lichtenstein was the son of Anton August Heinrich Lichtenstein. He studied medicine ...

, Heinrich Göppert,

Johann Heinrich von Mädler Johann Heinrich von Mädler (29 May 1794, Berlin – 14 March 1874, Hannover) was a German astronomer. Life and work His father was a master tailor and when 12 he studied at the Friedrich‐Werdersche Gymnasium in Berlin. He was orphaned at ag ...

and Joseph Johann von Littrow. In 1840, a new art program that he was planning to direct was defunded. He died the following year, from an inflammation of the liver.

Sources

* ''Johann Joseph Schmeller. Ein Porträtist im Dienste Goethes'', Klassik Stiftung Weimar, 2003 (Exhibition catalog) * Willy Handrick: ''Johann Joseph Schmeller'', Aufbau-Verlag, 1966. *
''Schmeller, Johann Joseph.''
In: ''Deutsche Biografie.''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmeller, Johann Joseph 1796 births 1841 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German portrait painters Deaths from liver disease People from Weimarer Land