Theodor Hildebrandt (2 July 1804, Stettin29 September 1874,

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

) was a German artist of the

Düsseldorf school of painting The Düsseldorf school of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Academy (now the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State ...

who specialized in literary and historical subjects. He was also a noted entomologist.

Biography

He was a disciple of the painter Schadow, and, on Schadow's appointment to the presidency of a new academy in the Rhenish provinces in 1828, followed that master to

. Hildebrandt began by painting pictures illustrative of

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 ...

and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

; but in this form he followed the traditions of the stage rather than the laws of nature. He produced rapidly "Faust and Mephistopheles" (1824), "Faust and Margaret" (1825), and "Lear and Cordelia" (1828). He is associated with the

. He visited the Netherlands with Schadow in 1829, and wandered alone in 1830 to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

; but travel did not alter his style, though it led him to cultivate alternately

eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories i ...

and

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

. At Düsseldorf, about 1830, he produced "Romeo and Juliet," "Tancred and Clorinda," and other works which deserved to be classed with earlier paintings; but during the same period he exhibited (1829) the "Robber" and (1832) the "Captain and his Infant Son," examples of an affected but kindly realism, which captivated the public, and marked to a certain extent an epoch in Prussian art. The picture which made Hildebrandt's fame is the "Murder of the Children of King Edward" (1836), of which the original, afterwards frequently copied, still belongs to the Spiegel collection at Halberstadt. Comparatively late in life Hildebrandt tried his powers as an historical painter in pictures representing

Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figure ...

and Henry VIII, but he lapsed again into the romantic in "Othello and Desdemona." After 1847 Hildebrandt gave himself up to portrait-painting, and in that branch succeeded in obtaining a large practice. Hildebrandt was also an entomologist specialising in Coleoptera and a Member of the

Entomological Society of Stettin The Entomological Society of Stettin (german: Entomologischer Verein zu Stettin) or Stettin Entomological Society, based in Stettin (Szczecin), was one of the leading entomological societies of the 19th century. Most German entomologists were membe ...

. He died at Düsseldorf in 1874.

Selected paintings

File:1829 Hildebrandt Raeuber anagoria.JPG, The Robber (1829) File:Theodor Hildebrandt Krieger u Kind.jpg, The Captain and
His Infant Son (1832) Theodor Hildebrandt - The Murder of the Sons of Edward IV - Google Art Project.jpg, The Murder of the Children of King Edward (1835) File:Reutern Evgraf Romanovich.png, Gerhardt Wilhelm von Reutern (1838)

References

External links

koleopterologie.de
In German {{DEFAULTSORT:Hildebrandt, Theodor 1804 births 1874 deaths Artists from Szczecin 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters People from the Province of Pomerania German entomologists Scientists from Szczecin Düsseldorf school of painting