Johann Martin von Rohden (b Kassel, 30 July 1778; d

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, 9 September 1868) was a German painter active for most of his career in Rome.

Life and work

Son of a merchant, von Rohden began his studies at the Kunstakademie in Kassel, remaining there until 1795. At seventeen he went to Rome with a friend who had won a travel grant for artists from the

Landgrave of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Midd ...

. There he met and studied with Johann Christian Reinhart. In 1799 he left Rome and traveled up the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

coast; he was back in Germany from 1801 until 1802. In the latter year he returned to Rome to study with

Joseph Anton Koch Joseph Anton Koch (27 July 1768 – 12 January 1839) was an Austrian painter of Neoclassicism and later the German Romantic movement; he is perhaps the most significant neoclassical landscape painter. Biography The Tyrolese painter was born i ...

; he remained in or near the city for the duration of his time in Italy, save for a trip in 1805 to

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. He returned to Germany in 1811, visiting

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 tr ...

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 ...

and joining a Kassel-based reading group run by the

brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

, but returned the following year to Rome, staying until 1826. He converted to Roman Catholicism and married the daughter of the innkeeper of the Sibylla Inn in Tivoli. With

Johann Georg von Dillis Johann Georg von Dillis (26 December 1759 – 28 September 1841) was a German painter. Biography He was born in Gmain near Dorfen. Son of a gamekeeper and forester, he was educated in Munich with support from the prince-elector of Bavaria. Init ...

he was apparently the first German painter to paint outdoors as part of his work. Though he was older, this practice earned him respect from the younger generation of German landscape painters who came to Rome to work in the early nineteenth century. In 1826 he was offered the post of chief painter at the court of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

, but the relocation was hard on his family, and two years later he was granted permission to return to Rome for good. There he was known as kind and sociable, helping to form the German Academy and frequently going for

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

trips in the

Campagna Campagna (Italian: ) is a small town and ''comune'' of the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of Southern Italy. Its population is 17,148. Its old Latin name was Civitas Campaniae (City of Campagna). Campagna is located in one of the ...

. He died in Rome in 1868.

References

*Philip Conisbee, Sarah Faunce, and Jeremy Strick. ''In the Light of Italy: Corot and Early Open-Air Painting''. New Haven; Yale University Press, 1996.
Johann Martin von Rohden
from Answers.com 1778 births 1868 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists German male painters 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists Artists from Kassel {{Germany-painter-stub