Philip Weilbach (5 August 1834, Usserød – 22 November 1900, Copenhagen) was a Danish art historian and encyclopedist. He is remembered above all for his pioneering work on the early editions of the biographical dictionary, ''

Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon ''Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon'' (Weilbach's Biographical Dictionary of Artists) is a Danish biographical dictionary of artists and architects. The current edition, which is also freely accessible online, contains the biographies of some 8,000 Danis ...

'' (Weilbach's Artists' Lexicon).

Early life

Son of Johan Philip Weilbach who ran a clothing factory in Usserød north of Copenhagen, Weilbach graduated from Borgdyd School on the Copenhagen island of

Christianshavn Christianshavn (literally, "ingChristian's Harbour") is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of th ...

in 1852. He then studied esthetics and history of art but did not take final examinations. From 1860 to 1862, he was in Rome as secretary to the Danish consul and became a member of the Scandinavian Association."Philip Weilbach"
''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon''; retrieved 8 October 2012 (in Danish language).

Career

On returning to Denmark, he published ''De berømte Broncedøre for Hovedindgangen til Baptisteriet i Florens, udførte af Lorenzo Ghiberti'' (1862) about

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...

's bronze doors in the Baptistry of Florence Cathedral. He assisted the literary critic

Clemens Petersen Clemens Petersen (2 October 1834 – 21 May 1918) was a Danish esthetician, theatre critic and literary critic. He was born in the parish Asminderup in Odsherred, Zealand. In his position as theatre critic and literary critic for ''Fædrelandet' ...

and also befriended the Norwegian author

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...

for a while, leading in 1870 to a collection of articles he published as ''Konst og Æsthetik'' (Art and Esthetics). In 1872, he wrote a biography of the painter

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (2 January 1783 – 22 July 1853) was a Danish painter. He was born in Blåkrog in the Southern Jutland region of Denmark. He went on to lay the foundation for the period of art known as the Golden Age of Dani ...

titled ''Maleren Eckersbergs Levned og Værker''. In 1883, he followed Julius Lange as secretary of the Royal Danish Academy and also became the institution's librarian, a position he maintained for the rest of his life. H. While his work as a critic was less notable than that of Lange, his contributions to the history of architecture were more successful. These included ''Hvem har bygget Frederiks Hospital?'' (Who Built Frederik's Hospital?) in 1899 and ''En bygning af Harsdorff i Trondhjem'' (A Building by Harsdorff in Trondheim) in 1901. However, he is remembered above all for his work on the first and second series of Denmark's biographical dictionary of artists and architects known as ''

'', first published in 1877–1878 and again in 1896–1897. These solid works are based on rich background material as well as on archival sources and include personal contributions from artists who were still living at the time. In 1892 Weilbach became a

Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

Personal life

Weilbach was on 19 March 1886 married to Emma Emilie Frederikke Dreyer (14 January 1851 - 24. March 900), daughter of merchant and consul in

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northern ...

Carl Frederik August Dreyer (1820-1904) and Juliane Louise Wilhelmine Becker (1825-1900). The marriage was later dissolved. He was second time married to Cecilie Adolphine Ammitzbøll (1826-1883), daughter of Hans Henrich Ammitzbøll (1786-1831) and Marie Sophie Ammitzbøll (1793-1853). They had five children: Philip Biørnstierne Weilbach , Fderik Immanuel Weilbach,a Cl Valdemar Weilbach, Dagmar Charlotte Weilbach and Niels Olaf Weilbach

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weilbach, Philip Danish art historians Encyclopedists Danish scholars 1834 births 1900 deaths Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog