Ernst Joachim Förster (8 April 1800 – 29 April 1885) was a German painter and an art critic, author of a number of elaborate and important works bearing on the

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic vis ...

in Germany and

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 ...

Biography

He was born in

Saaleplatte Saaleplatte is a former municipality in the Weimarer Land district of Thuringia, Germany. On 31 December 2019, it was merged into the town Bad Sulza.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 atte ...

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 ...

. He was employed in painting the frescoes in the ''Aula'' at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

, and those of the

Glyptothek The Glyptothek () is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I to house his collection of Greek and Roman sculptures (hence γλυπτο- ''glypto-'' "sculpture", from the Greek verb γλύφειν ''glyph ...

and the arcades at Munich, but his reputation rests chiefly on his discovery of several ancient pictures, and on his works on the history of art. His greatest discovery was the frescoes of

Altichiero da Zevio Altichiero da Verona (c. 1330 – c. 1390), also called Aldighieri da Zevio, was an Italian painter of the Gothic style. A follower of Giotto, Altichiero is credited with founding the Veronese school. He worked in Verona and Padua—works by h ...

, which date as far back as 1376, in the Chapel of San Giorgio at

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of t ...

. It is known that he lived at ''Löwen Straße 8'' in

around 1850.Paul Maucher
''Alphabetic register of house owners 1849-1851''
, p. 15. His brother was Friedrich Christoph Förster. He was the son-in-law of

Jean Paul Jean Paul (; born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, 21 March 1763 – 14 November 1825) was a German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories. Life and work Jean Paul was born at Wunsiedel, in the Fichtelgebirge mounta ...

, whose works he edited, and whose biography he wrote.

Art works

Among his paintings are “Hellas Liberated,” and portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Altenburg and children. Among his frescoes are scenes from

Johann Wolfgang von 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 ...

's poems, and scenes from

Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the epic ''Oberon'', which formed the bas ...

's ''Musarion'' and ''Die Grazien'', in the Royal Palace at Munich.

Literary works

* ''Die Wandgemälde der Sanct Georgenkapelle zu Padua'' (1859) * ''Vorschule der Kunstgeschichte'' (1862) * ''Denkmale deutscher Baukunst, Bildnerei und Malerei'' (1853–69) * ''Geschichte der deutschen Kunst'' (1851–60) * ''Geschichte der italienischen Kunst'' (1869–78) * ''Peter von Cornelius'' (1874) Among his works are excellent guide books to Munich, Italy, and Germany.

Family

He was the younger brother of historian and poet Friedrich Christoph Förster.

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Ernst Joachim 1800 births 1885 deaths People from Weimarer Land 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters German art historians German male non-fiction writers