Carl Eduard Steinbrück (2 May 1802,

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

- 3 February 1882,

Landeck Landeck () is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the capital of the district of Landeck. Geography Landeck is located in the Tyrolean Oberland in the west of the state at an elevation of about . The town is situated in the valley of the Inn ...

) was a German history painter and

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

; associated with the

Düsseldorf school Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the seventh-largest city in Germany, with a 2022 population of 629,047. The Düssel, ...

Biography

His father was a merchant from

Tangermünde Tangermünde (; ) is a historic town on the Elbe River in the district of Stendal (district), Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The town has land area of around 89.87 sq.km (34.70 sq.mi) and a population of 10,283 people ...

and, in 1817, he became apprenticed to a businessman in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

. He eventually decided to follow his own inclinations and become a painter so, in 1822, he went to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he worked in the studios of

Wilhelm Wach Karl (or Carl) Wilhelm Wach (11 September 1787 – 24 November 1845) was a German painter. Life Wach was born in Berlin in 1787, studied art at the Prussian Academy of Arts and was a pupil of painter Karl Kretschmar. At the age of just 20, Wac ...

. He produced his first independent paintings, on religious subjects, in 1825. In 1829, he moved to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, where he mingled with the local artists. He then went to Rome, where he joined the German art community, and stayed until 1830. Upon returning to Germany, he married Amalia Martens and settled in Berlin. In 1833, he felt the need for improving his work and returned to Düsseldorf, where he studied with Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow at the Kunstakadmie. During his time there, he sent his works to exhibitions in Berlin. After a major sale to the art dealer, , who had a gallery in New York City, he focused much of his attention on the art market in the United States. In 1846 Amalia became seriously ill, and they returned to Berlin to be with her family. She died the following year, leaving him with three sons and a daughter. In Berlin, King

Frederick William IV Frederick William IV (; 15 October 1795 – 2 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, was King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 until his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to as the " romanticist on the t ...

gave him numerous commissions for works in public buildings and churches; beginning with

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es in the chapel at

Berlin Palace The Berlin Palace (), formerly known as the Royal Palace (), is a large building adjacent to Berlin Cathedral and the Museum Island in the Mitte area of Berlin. It was the main residence of the Electors of Brandenburg, Kings of Prussia and Ge ...

Bettina Baumgärtel Bettina Baumgärtel (born 1957) is a German art historian who is head of the painting collection of the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf. She is a leading authority on the art of Angelica Kauffman and founded the Angelika Kauffmann Research Proje ...

: "Chronik der Düsseldorfer Malerschule". In ''Die Düsseldorfer Malerschule und ihre internationale Ausstrahlung 1819–1918''.

Michael Imhof Verlag Michael Imhof Verlag is a German publishing company in Petersberg, Hesse. They are known especially for publishing books with a local interest, on art, on history, politics, religion, nature, and culture. Besides titles in German German(s) may r ...

, Petersberg 2011, , Vol.1, pg.361 Over the next few years, he would create works at the

Neues Museum The Neues Museum (, ''New Museum'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. Built from 1843 to 1855 by order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia in Neoclassical and Renaissance Revival styles, ...

, the

Church of Peace, Potsdam The Evangelical Church in Germany, Protestant Church of Peace () is situated in the Marly Gardens on the Green Fence (''Am Grünen Gitter'') in the palace grounds of Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, Germany. The church was built according to the wis ...

, and

St. Hedwig's Cathedral St. Hedwig's Cathedral () is the Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Berlin on Bebelplatz in the historic centre of Berlin. Dedicated to Hedwig of Silesia, it was erected from 1747 to 1773 by order of Frederick the Great according to pla ...

. He also produced what he considered to be his masterwork, "Die Magdeburger Jungfrauen", depicting a scene from the

Sack of Magdeburg The Sack of Magdeburg, also called Magdeburg's Wedding () or Magdeburg's Sacrifice (), was the destruction of the Protestant city of Magdeburg on 20 May 1631 by the Imperial Army and the forces of the Catholic League, resulting in the deaths ...

, which occupied him from 1852 to 1866. In the early 1840s, he had become interested in

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

when his friend, Ernst Deger, gave him a book by

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...

: ''Das bittere Leiden unsers Herrn Jesu Christi'' (The Bitter Suffering of Our Lord Jesus Christ), which dealt with the life of the mystic,

Anna Katharina Emmerick Anne Catherine Emmerich, CRV (also ''Anna Katharina Emmerick''; 8 September 1774 – 9 February 1824) was a Roman Catholic Augustinian canoness of the Congregation of Windesheim. During her lifetime, she was a mystic, Marian visionary and s ...

. In 1858, after a series of disagreements with the Protestant clergy, he formally converted for what he called 'reasons of conscience". In 1863 he remarried, to Charlotte Witt. Over the next few years, he turned to painting idyllic works; featuring children, angels and fairies. In 1876, he retired to Landeck, a resort city he had visited during his summer vacations. He died there six years later.

References

External links

@ Artothek
More works by Steinbrück
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinbruck, Eduard 1802 births 1882 deaths German history painters Religious artists Fresco painters Düsseldorf school of painting Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni German Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Protestantism Artists from Magdeburg Painters from Saxony-Anhalt

Biography

References

Further reading

External links