Marie Ellenrieder (20 March 1791 – 5 June 1863) was a German

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

known for her portraits and religious paintings.

Life and career

Ellenrieder was born in

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

, Germany in 1791, the daughter of Konrad and Anna Maria Herrmann, and the granddaughter of Franz Ludwig Herrmann. She was considered to be the most important German woman artist of her time. In 1813, she enrolled in the

Academy of Fine Arts Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

, making her the first woman admitted to an art academy in Germany. She thus paved the way for many other women to train professionally as artists at the Munich Academy. She studied there under the miniature painter Joseph Einsle. Her early portraits were similar in style to those of

Angelica Kauffman Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...

and had a more relaxed naturalism than was usual in German portraiture of the time. Between 1822 and 1824, during a study trip in Rome, Ellenrieder met the Nazarenes and became a disciple of

Johann Friedrich Overbeck Johann Friedrich Overbeck (3 July 1789 – 12 November 1869) was a German painter. As a member of the Nazarene movement, he also made four etchings. Early life and education Born in Lübeck, his ancestors for three generations had been Protes ...

. The Nazarenes' objective was to lead a renewal of religious art in the spirit of the Italian Renaissance master

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

, an ideal Ellenrieder adopted. After this journey, and further influenced by her friend and patron Baron von Wessenberg, she began painting religious images in the style of the Italian Renaissance, including ''Martyrdom of St. Stephen'' for the Church of St. Stephen in Karlsruhe in 1828. In 1829, she became

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

to Grand Duchess Sophie of Baden. Ellenrieder returned to her home town in the 1840s and continued producing religious images. Her two paintings ''Der 12 jährige Jesus im Tempel / The 12 year old Jesus in the Temple'' of 1849 (oil on canvas, 203,2 x 139,7 cm) and ''Hl Felicitas und ihre sieben Söhne / Holy Felicitas and her Seven Sons'' of 1847 (oil on canvas, 127 x 177,8 cm) were acquired by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, who had been introduced to her work by the Prince Consort, who in turn had encountered the artist on his travels to Rome. They are now part of the Royal Collection in

Osborne House Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house himself, in t ...

. She died in her home town of Konstanz in 1863. The largest collection of the work of Marie Ellenrieder in the United States is held by the

Jack Daulton James (Jack) Daulton (born October 30, 1956) is an American art collector, trial lawyer, music entrepreneur, exploration philanthropist, and expert and lecturer on the history of art and architecture. Daulton rose to fame representing the natio ...

Collection in Los Altos Hills, California.

Selected paintings

File:Ellenrieder Jesus als Kinderfreund 1845.jpg, Christ Blessing Little Children File:Ellenrieder Maria 1824.jpg, Mary and the Infant Jesus File:Marie Ellenrieder Jesus von Kindern umgeben 2.jpg, Jesus Among the Children File:Marie Ellenrieder, Saint Stephen, oil on board, 1857, The Daulton Collection.jpg,

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

Among the Angels, 1857, oil on mill-board, The

Collection, Los Altos Hills, California

References

External links

Collection of Works by Marie Ellenrieder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellenrieder, Marie 1791 births 1863 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German women artists People from Konstanz Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Nazarene painters German women painters

Life and career

Selected paintings

See also

References

External links