Elimar Ulrich Bruno Piglhein (19 February 1848, in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

– 15 July 1894, in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

) was a German sculptor and painter. He was a founder and first President of the

Munich Secession The Munich Secession was an association of visual artists who broke away from the mainstream Munich Artists' Association in 1892, to promote and defend their art in the face of what they considered official paternalism and its conservative polic ...

Life

His father was a decorator. Upon graduating from the Gymnasium, he studied with the sculptor Julius Lippelt. After Lippelt's death from tuberculosis, Piglhein went to the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institution is the produc ...

, but had to leave after two years for an alleged lack of talent. The sculptor

Johannes Schilling Johannes Schilling (23 June 1828 in Mittweida – 21 March 1910 in Klotzsche near Dresden) was a German sculptor. Life and work Johannes Schilling was the youngest of five children. A year after his birth, his family moved to Dresden, where he g ...

saw that he had some potential, however, and took him into his studio. After a short stay in Italy, Piglhein decided to take up painting instead and, on Schilling's recommendation, began studies with

Ferdinand Pauwels Wilhelm Ferdinand Pauwels ( �pʌu̯əls 13 April 1830, Ekeren – 26 March 1904, Dresden) was a Belgian history painter who lived and worked in Germany. Life From 1842 to 1850, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp), under Gu ...

at the

Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School The Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School, Weimar (German:Großherzoglich-Sächsische Kunstschule Weimar) was founded on 1 October 1860, in Weimar, Germany, by a decree of Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. It existed until 1910, when i ...

. Finding the small town atmosphere uncongenial, in 1871 he moved to Munich, where he became an associate of

Wilhelm von Diez Albrecht Christoph Wilhelm von Diez (17 January 1839, Bayreuth – 25 February 1907, Munich) was a German painter and illustrator of the Munich School. Life He attended a trade school in Munich, followed by the Polytechnic School (precursor of ...

. Despite the attention given to his painting of the Crucifixion at the Munich exhibition and the positive critical reception accorded to his portraits of children, he was not very successful. At the suggestion of his agent, he turned to pastel portraits of women; favoring Spanish dancers, pierrettes and belles-of-the- ball with low

décolletage Cleavage is the narrow depression or hollow between the breasts of a woman. The superior portion of cleavage may be accentuated by clothing such as a low-cut neckline that exposes the division, and often the term is used to describe the low neck ...

. He then came into fashion, but also found himself being criticized as a bad moral influence and a "courtesan painter".

''The Crucifixion''

In 1885, he found an opportunity to restore his reputation. Joseph Halder, a businessman from Munich, conceived plans for a circular, panoramic painting depicting the

Crucifixion of Christ The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

and, recalling Piglhein's work at the Munich Exhibition, the commission was given to him. From 1885 to 1886, he made a trip to Jerusalem, where he made sketches for what would become his magnum opus. Under his direction the landscape painters Josef Block, Johann Adalbert Heine (1850-1905) and Josef Krieger (1848-1914) created the scenes, while Piglhein executed the figures. The work was displayed in Munich, Berlin and Vienna, where it was destroyed by a fire in 1892. Ten photographs of the work were taken on opening day. At least 15 copies of the work were made (some of which were made by his assistants, who were not under Piglhein's contractual obligations to produce but one panorama). Extant panoramas are located in

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipality and district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. History Early history There was no permanent settlement in the area ...

, Switzerland and

Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré is a town in La Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada, along the Saint Lawrence River, north-east of Quebec City. The population was 2,803 according to the Canada 2006 Census. Major religious l ...

in Québec, Canada. Piglhein Jerusalem Rundgemaelde

In 1886, he was appointed a Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. With his reputation reestablished, he began to produce large canvases on religious themes and portraits. In 1892, he became one of the founders and first President of the Munich Secession, although he was already suffering from physical ailments that inhibited his ability to work.

References

External links

* Bruno Piglhein website: includes a larger view of the panorama, pastels, photographs and documentary material

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piglheim, Bruno 1848 births 1894 deaths 19th-century German sculptors German male sculptors 19th-century German painters German male painters 19th-century German male artists

Life

''The Crucifixion''

References

Further reading

External links