The epithet Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th-century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive spirituality in art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a biblical manner of clothing and hair style.

History

In 1809, six students at the

Vienna Academy The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

formed an artistic cooperative in

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called the Brotherhood of St. Luke or ''Lukasbund'', following a common name for medieval guilds of painters. In 1810 four of them,

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 ...

Franz Pforr Franz Pforr (5 April 1788 – 16 June 1812) was a painter of the German Nazarene movement. Biography He was born in Frankfurt am Main. He received his earliest training from his father, the painter Johann Georg Pforr (1745–98), and his uncl ...

Ludwig Vogel Georg Ludwig Vogel (10 July 1788, Zürich - 21 August 1879, Zürich) was a Swiss history painter, associated with the Nazarene movement. Biography He originally followed in his father's footsteps and became a confectioner. He had, however, shown ...

and Johann Konrad Hottinger (1788-1827) moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where they occupied the abandoned monastery of San Isidoro. They were joined by

Philipp Veit Philipp Veit (13 February 179318 December 1877) was a German Romantic painter and one of the main exponents of the Nazarene movement. It is to Veit that the credit of having been the first to revive the nearly forgotten technique of fresco ...

Peter von Cornelius Peter von Cornelius (23 September 1783, Düsseldorf – 6 March 1867, Berlin) was a German painter; one of the main representatives of the Nazarene movement. Life Early years Cornelius was born in Düsseldorf. From the age of twelve he attend ...

, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld,

Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow (7 September 1789 – 19 March 1862) was a German Romantic painter. Biography He was born in Berlin, the second son of the sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow, who gave him his first lessons in drawing. He then turne ...

and a loose grouping of other German-speaking artists. They met up with Austrian romantic landscape artist

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 ...

(1768–1839) who became an unofficial tutor to the group. In 1827 they were joined by

Joseph von Führich Joseph von Führich (fully Josef Ritter von Führich) (9 February 1800 – 13 March 1876) was an Austrian painter, one of the Nazarene movement, Nazarenes. Biography He was born at Kratzau (today Chrastava) in Bohemia. Deeply impressed as a b ...

(1800–1876). The principal motivation of the Nazarenes was a reaction against Neoclassicism and the routine art education of the academy system. They hoped to return to art that embodied spiritual values, and sought inspiration in artists of the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

, rejecting what they saw as the superficial virtuosity of later art. In Rome the group lived a semi-monastic existence as a way of re-creating the nature of the medieval artist's workshop. Religious subjects dominated their output, and two major commissions allowed them to attempt a revival of the medieval art of fresco painting. The first was a fresco series completed in Rome for the Casa Bartholdy (1816–17; moved to the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin), a collaborative project by the Nazarenes that "marks the beginnng of the revival of fresco decoration for private and public buildings". This, and a second commission to decorate the Casino Massimo (1817–1829), gained international attention for the work of the "Nazarenes". However, by 1830 all except Overbeck had returned to Germany and the group had disbanded. Many Nazarenes became influential teachers in German art academies.

Legacy

The programme of the Nazarenes—the adoption of what they called honest expression in art and the inspiration of artists before Raphael—was to exert considerable influence in Germany, and in England upon the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

movement. They were also direct influences on the British artists

William Dyce William Dyce (; 19 September 1806 in Aberdeen14 February 1864) was a Scottish painter, who played a part in the formation of public art education in the United Kingdom, and the South Kensington Schools system. Dyce was associated with the Pre-R ...

and

Frederick Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjec ...

and

Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painti ...

.Neil MacMillan, ''Victorian Romantics'' (Vancouver: MacMillan & Perrin, 1979) p.1

Notable members

* Josef Führich *

* Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld *

Eduard Jakob von Steinle Eduard von Steinle (2 July 1810 – 19 September 1886) was a historical painter and member of the Nazarene movement. Life He was born 2 July 1810 in Vienna. Steinle came successively under the influence of the painters Leopold Kupelwieser ...

Johannes Veit Johannes Veit, originally Jonas Veit (2 March 1790, Berlin - 18 January 1854, Rome) was a German history painter. After 1811, he lived and worked in Rome, where he was a member of the Nazarene movement.

Eugene von Guerard Johann Joseph Eugene von GuérardHis first name is variously spelled "Eugen", "Eugene", "Eugène", one source mentions "Jean" (instead of "Johann"); his surname is spelled "Guerard" or "Guérard". The most frequent combination is that used by t ...

Other painters associated with the movement

* Carl Joseph Begas *

Karl von Blaas Karl von Blaas (28 April 1815 – 19 March 1894) was an Austrian painter known for his portraits and religious compositions executed on canvas as well as in the form of frescoes. Biography Carl Von Blaas was born to a peasant family at Nauders i ...

* Ernst Deger * Konrad Eberhard * Carl Eggers * Marie Ellenrieder * Gebhard Flatz * Matthias Goebbels * Josef von Hempel * Franz Theobald Horny * Franz Ittenbach * Gustav Jäger *

Leopold Kupelwieser Leopold Kupelwieser (17 October 1796, Markt Piesting – 17 November 1862, Vienna) was an Austrian painter, often associated with the Nazarene movement. Life He was the son of Johann Baptist Georg Kilian Kupelwieser (1760–1813), co-owner of ...

* Friedrich Lange * Ferdinand Olivier * Friedrich Olivier *

Johann David Passavant Johann David Passavant (18 September 1787 – 17 August 1861) was a German painter, curator and artist. Biography Passavant was born in 1787 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His interest in the arts was evident by an early correspondence wi ...

* Carl Gottlieb Peschel * Johann Anton Ramboux * Theodor Rehbenitz * Johann Scheffer von Leonhardshoff *

Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld (2 July 183621 July 1865) was a German Heldentenor. He is best known creating the role of Tristan in Wagner's opera ''Tristan und Isolde'' at its 1865 premiere at the Bavarian court opera in Munich. His career was ...

* Johann von Schraudolph *

Joseph Anton Settegast Joseph Anton Nikolaus Settegast (8 February 1813, Koblenz - 19 March 1890, Mainz) was a German church painter and one of the last representatives of the Nazarene movement. Life He received his first art instruction from 1829 to 1831 at the Kuns ...

* Johann Michael Wittmer * Giuseppe Hyzler and his brother Vincenzo Hyzler from Malta

References

External links

{{Authority control Nazarene movement,