DOI issue:
Część III. Sztuka XIX wieku / Part III. Art of the Nineteenth Century
DOI article:Kozak, Anna: Portrety artystów przyjaciól w tradycji nazareńskiej w twórczości malarzy śląskich XIX wieku
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45361#0437
Anna Kozak Nazarene Friendship Portraits by Nineteenth-Century Silesian Painters
433
portrait by Friedrich Meyer,71 show him in profile, which makes a comparison very difficult.
In Herrmann’s drawing in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw, the painter is
shown from the back and only resembles the man in the painting by his hairstyle. Therefore,
until we acquire new iconographie evidence, the identifications of both the painting and the
drawing should retain their question marks.
Representing himself in a circle of old friends from the academy, who at this time were
leading representatives of Nazarene religious painting, is a sort of artistic manifesto of Schall’s,
who declares himself in favour of art in the service of the Catholic Church and of the kind of
painting represented by these artists. In the year the painting was created, they had significant
successes, such as the frescoes underway in the church in Remagen and the efficiently func-
tioning system of popularizing paintings through religious reproductions. Placing them in
a painting in the more provincial Wroclaw may represent an attempt by its author to promote
himself, as a recommendation for potential commissioners.
A small drawing of studies of various figures at the National Museum in Warsaw repre-
sents the artists of the same circle (fig. II).72 In its upper left corner we see Ernst Deger and
Raphael Schall from the back, walking, their arms linked, no longer in their student berets but
in top hats, thin walking sticks in hand. At first I thought that this sketch, which its first owner
believed to be the work of Carl Adalbert Herrmann, had been made by a different artist with
the same name.73 But if we reject the assumption that it was drawn by Schall during his trip
to Italy, we cannot disregard the possibility that Herrmann is its author. He may have painted
his colleagues in a different place, such as Silesia, as evidence that he remained in contact with
the later generation of Nazarenes.
In conclusion, let me mention a type of portrait that is closely related to the category un-
der discussion here, those of teachers made by their students. Thus, Raphael Schall in 1833
painted Johann Heinrich König,74 who had taught numerous artists in Silesia, and who was
also his teacher before he left for Berlin that year. But his first Nazarene-style portrait was that
of another famous teacher of German artists, Wilhelm Schadow (fig. 12), which is to be found
among his drawings in the Archdiocese Museum in Wroclaw. The model’s identification is
favoured by his similarity to Schadow’s self-portrait in the Stadtmuseuni Düsseldorf75 and
the famous drawing by Bendemann76 made in i860, where he is ill, close to death. The shape
of his eyes, mouth and nose are the same as the artist’s in this drawing, and what sets them
apart is the shape of his skull, which does resemble him in his self-portrait.
Despite some technical shortcomings, Schall’s drawing is striking for its exceptional
insight in reproducing the subject’s facial features. It is of a man with extremely thinned out
71 1837; see Portraits von Düsseldorfer Künstler nach dem Leben gezeichnet und radiertvon Fr.Meyer, 1838 er-
stes Heft, mit der Bildnissen von H. Plüddemann, C. Deger, C.E Lessingund Ch. Kohle, 4. In this portrait, Deger’s
facial expression somewhat resembles the young man in the picture that has been linked to the painting; see n. 62.
72 Pencil, paper, 6.2 x 8 cm, inv. no. Rys.Nm.XIX 298 MNW, the National Museum in Warsaw.
73 Kozak, op. cit., p. 227.
74 Pencil, paper, 14.4 x 14.3 cm; inv. no. Rys.Nm.XIX 590 MNW, the National Museum in Warsaw; see
Scheyer, Schlesische..., op. cit., p. 69, fig. 32.
75 Stadtmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf; see Kunst desig. Jahrhunderts..., op. cit., p. 75, fig. 25 ; I would
like to thank Dr Christoph Danelzik-Brüeggemann of this museum for providing information about this painting.
76 See Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, Die Handzeichnungen des 19. Jahrhunderts. Düsseldorfer Malerschule, Teil 1:
Die erste Jahrhunderthälfte, Text- und Tafelband, collection cat., Ute Ricke-Immel, ed„ Düsseldorf, vol. 1 (text) 1980,
cat. no. 100, vol. 2 (tables) 1978, fig. 99.
433
portrait by Friedrich Meyer,71 show him in profile, which makes a comparison very difficult.
In Herrmann’s drawing in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw, the painter is
shown from the back and only resembles the man in the painting by his hairstyle. Therefore,
until we acquire new iconographie evidence, the identifications of both the painting and the
drawing should retain their question marks.
Representing himself in a circle of old friends from the academy, who at this time were
leading representatives of Nazarene religious painting, is a sort of artistic manifesto of Schall’s,
who declares himself in favour of art in the service of the Catholic Church and of the kind of
painting represented by these artists. In the year the painting was created, they had significant
successes, such as the frescoes underway in the church in Remagen and the efficiently func-
tioning system of popularizing paintings through religious reproductions. Placing them in
a painting in the more provincial Wroclaw may represent an attempt by its author to promote
himself, as a recommendation for potential commissioners.
A small drawing of studies of various figures at the National Museum in Warsaw repre-
sents the artists of the same circle (fig. II).72 In its upper left corner we see Ernst Deger and
Raphael Schall from the back, walking, their arms linked, no longer in their student berets but
in top hats, thin walking sticks in hand. At first I thought that this sketch, which its first owner
believed to be the work of Carl Adalbert Herrmann, had been made by a different artist with
the same name.73 But if we reject the assumption that it was drawn by Schall during his trip
to Italy, we cannot disregard the possibility that Herrmann is its author. He may have painted
his colleagues in a different place, such as Silesia, as evidence that he remained in contact with
the later generation of Nazarenes.
In conclusion, let me mention a type of portrait that is closely related to the category un-
der discussion here, those of teachers made by their students. Thus, Raphael Schall in 1833
painted Johann Heinrich König,74 who had taught numerous artists in Silesia, and who was
also his teacher before he left for Berlin that year. But his first Nazarene-style portrait was that
of another famous teacher of German artists, Wilhelm Schadow (fig. 12), which is to be found
among his drawings in the Archdiocese Museum in Wroclaw. The model’s identification is
favoured by his similarity to Schadow’s self-portrait in the Stadtmuseuni Düsseldorf75 and
the famous drawing by Bendemann76 made in i860, where he is ill, close to death. The shape
of his eyes, mouth and nose are the same as the artist’s in this drawing, and what sets them
apart is the shape of his skull, which does resemble him in his self-portrait.
Despite some technical shortcomings, Schall’s drawing is striking for its exceptional
insight in reproducing the subject’s facial features. It is of a man with extremely thinned out
71 1837; see Portraits von Düsseldorfer Künstler nach dem Leben gezeichnet und radiertvon Fr.Meyer, 1838 er-
stes Heft, mit der Bildnissen von H. Plüddemann, C. Deger, C.E Lessingund Ch. Kohle, 4. In this portrait, Deger’s
facial expression somewhat resembles the young man in the picture that has been linked to the painting; see n. 62.
72 Pencil, paper, 6.2 x 8 cm, inv. no. Rys.Nm.XIX 298 MNW, the National Museum in Warsaw.
73 Kozak, op. cit., p. 227.
74 Pencil, paper, 14.4 x 14.3 cm; inv. no. Rys.Nm.XIX 590 MNW, the National Museum in Warsaw; see
Scheyer, Schlesische..., op. cit., p. 69, fig. 32.
75 Stadtmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf; see Kunst desig. Jahrhunderts..., op. cit., p. 75, fig. 25 ; I would
like to thank Dr Christoph Danelzik-Brüeggemann of this museum for providing information about this painting.
76 See Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, Die Handzeichnungen des 19. Jahrhunderts. Düsseldorfer Malerschule, Teil 1:
Die erste Jahrhunderthälfte, Text- und Tafelband, collection cat., Ute Ricke-Immel, ed„ Düsseldorf, vol. 1 (text) 1980,
cat. no. 100, vol. 2 (tables) 1978, fig. 99.