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                    _ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHIES OF
                        THE GREAT ARTISTS._


                    JOHANN FRIEDRICH OVERBECK.




            ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GREAT ARTISTS.

_The following volumes, each illustrated with from 14 to 20 Engravings,
are now ready, price 3s. 6d. Those marked with an asterisk are 2s. 6d._


 GIOTTO. By HARRY QUILTER, M.A.
 FRA ANGELICO. By C. M. PHILLIMORE.
 FRA BARTOLOMMEO AND ANDREA DEL SARTO. By LEADER SCOTT.
 MANTEGNA AND FRANCIA. By JULIA CARTWRIGHT.
 GHIBERTI AND DONATELLO.* By LEADER SCOTT.
 LUCA DELLA ROBBIA.* By LEADER SCOTT.      [_Nearly ready._
 LEONARDO DA VINCI. By Dr. J. PAUL RICHTER.
 MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI. By CHARLES CLEMENT.
 RAPHAEL. By N. D'ANVERS.
 TITIAN. By R. F. HEATH, M.A.
 TINTORETTO. By W. R. OSLER.
 CORREGGIO.* By M. COMPTON HEATON.
 VELAZQUEZ. By E. STOWE, M.A.
 MURILLO.* By ELLEN E. MINOR.

 ALBRECHT DURER. By R. F. HEATH, M.A.
 THE LITTLE MASTERS OF GERMANY. By W. B. SCOTT.
 HANS HOLBEIN. By JOSEPH CUNDALL.
 OVERBECK. By J. BEAVINGTON ATKINSON.
 REMBRANDT. By J. W. MOLLETT, B.A.
 RUBENS. By C. W. KETT, M.A.
 VAN DYCK AND HALS. By P. R. HEAD, B.A.
 FIGURE PAINTERS OF HOLLAND. By LORD RONALD GOWER, F.S.A.

 CLAUDE LORRAIN.* By OWEN J. DULLEA.      [_In preparation._
 WATTEAU.* By J. W. MOLLETT, B.A.      [_In preparation._
 VERNET AND DELAROCHE. By J. RUUTZ REES.
 ROUSSEAU AND MILLET. BY W. E. HENLEY.      [_In preparation._
 MEISSONIER.* By J. W. MOLLETT, B.A.

 SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. By F. S. PULLING, M.A.
 WILLIAM HOGARTH. By AUSTIN DOBSON.
 GAINSBOROUGH AND CONSTABLE. By G. BROCK-ARNOLD, M.A.
 ROMNEY AND LAWRENCE.* By LORD RONALD GOWER, F.S.A.
 TURNER. By COSMO MONKHOUSE.
 SIR DAVID WILKIE. By J. W. MOLLETT, B.A.
 CROME AND THE NORWICH SCHOOL.* By C. MONKHOUSE.      [_Preparing._
 SIR EDWIN LANDSEER. By F. G. STEPHENS.




              [Illustration: JOHANN FRIEDRICH OVERBECK.]




    _"The whole world without Art would be one great wilderness."_

                               OVERBECK

                        BY J. BEAVINGTON ATKINSON
                               AUTHOR OF
                'SCHOOLS OF MODERN ART IN GERMANY,' ETC.

                               NEW YORK
                          SCRIBNER AND WELFORD
                                LONDON
                SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON
                                 1882.




                                  TO
                          THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
                        A. J. BERESFORD HOPE, ESQ.,
                              M.P., LL.D.,
                        THE KIND FRIEND OF ARTISTS,
                   THE FERVENT UPHOLDER OF CHRISTIAN ART,


                               This Life
                                  OF
                THE CHRISTIAN PAINTER J. FRIEDRICH OVERBECK
                                  IS
                        _RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED_
                                  BY
                              THE AUTHOR.




                                PREFACE.


In offering to the public the first complete biography yet attempted of
the painter Overbeck, I wish to give a few words in explanation. The
task has been far from easy: the materials, though the reverse of
scanty, are scattered: reminiscences of the artist and criticisms on his
works lie as fragments dispersed over the current literature of Germany.
My endeavour has been to fill in vacuities, to thread together a
consistent and connected narrative, and thus, so far as I have been
able, to present a true and lucid history.

My duty has been all the more anxious from the unusual complexity of the
pictorial products falling under review. The scenes are laid amid the
battle of the schools: the periods bring into prominence conflicts
between classic, romantic, and naturalistic styles. The art of Overbeck
was rooted in the olden times, yet in some degree it became quickened by
contact with present life, and took also a personal aspect from the
painter's inner self. The great pictures and the numberless drawings
thus evolved over a space of more than half a century, and here
described from my own knowledge, raise interesting and intricate
questions on which the world remains divided. My care has been to give a
just estimate of these exceptional art manifestations.

Also enter into the art, through the life, conflicts of religious
creeds, strifes between Protestantism and Catholicism, between
Platonism, Mysticism, and Rationalism. In dealing with such delicate and
serious topics I have avoided all controversy, and have ventured only on
the simplest and briefest exposition. My effort has been to state the
case fairly all round, to maintain an even balance, and, above all, to
place the reader, whatever may chance to be his creed or art school, in
a position to form a true judgment.

Likewise fairly to appreciate the artist, it is needful rightly to
comprehend the man. And here, again, perplexities arise from unwonted
combinations. The character is one of the noblest and purest, and yet it
is beset with peculiar infirmities. The portrait offered in these pages
is, I trust, true and individual, toned down into unity, and yet not
left cold or colourless. Such negation would, indeed, do injustice to my
own feelings. For among the cherished recollections of past days are my
visits to Overbeck's studio, stretching over a period of twenty years: I
learned to revere the master and to love his works, and I trust no word
in this little volume may lessen the respect due to an honoured name.

                                                                J. B. A.

KENSINGTON,
    _May, 1882._




                            CONTENTS.



							CHAPTER I.

                          LUBECK--VIENNA.

Birth and Parentage--Early Days in Lubeck--The Artist's learned and
religious Ancestry--His Father Doctor of Laws and Burgomaster--Chart of
the Family--Creed for a Purist Painter--Young Overbeck leaves Lubeck for
Vienna: his Studies in the Academy--Decadence of Art in the Austrian
Capital--Rise of the German Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood--Conflict between
the Old Party and the New--Overbeck and his Friends expelled from the
Academy--He resolves to make Christian Art the Vocation of his
Life--Leaves Vienna for Rome                                         Page 1


                            CHAPTER II.

                    ROME--THE GERMAN BROTHERHOOD.

Overbeck and his brother Artists reach Rome--The German Colony settle in
the Convent of Sant' Isidore--Inspiring surroundings of Art and
Nature--Modes of Study and of Life--Overbeck "a Treasury of Art and
Poetry, a saintly Man"--"The New-Old School," "the Nazarites," provoke
opposition and ridicule--State of Art in Rome: Classic, Romantic,
Christian--First Commission: early Drawings and Pictures--Exhibition in
Palazzo Caffarelli--Overbeck and his Friends join the Roman Catholic
Church--Reasons assigned--Literary circle: Niebuhr, Bunsen, and
Friedrich Schlegel--Frescoes by Overbeck, Cornelius, Veit, and Schadow
in the Casa Bartholdi and the Villa Massimo                              19


                            CHAPTER III.

                           ROME--GERMANY.

Overbeck marries, two children born--His position in "Monumental
Painting"--Fresco, "The Vision of St. Francis" at Assisi--Inclinations
towards Monastic Life--Journey to Germany--Triumphal Entry into
Munich--The Guest of Cornelius--Pictures in the New
Pinakathek--Correspondence and friendship with Fraulein Emilie
Linder--Visits to Heidelberg, Frankfort, Cologne, and Dusseldorf--Return
to Rome--Present at the opening of Raphael's Tomb in the Pantheon--Views
of Art become more dogmatic and sacerdotal--Three important easel
pictures: "Christ's Agony in the Garden," at Hamburg; "The Marriage of
the Virgin," in Count Raczynski's Gallery, Berlin; "The Triumph of
Religion in the Arts," Frankfort--The Painter's explanatory disquisition
on the last--His habits of work, personal aspect and character           48


                            CHAPTER IV.

            LATE WORKS--CONCLUSION--THE PAINTER AND HIS ART.

Death of Son--Pictures: "The Pieta," in Lubeck; "The Incredulity of St.
Thomas," in the possession of Mr. Beresford Hope--Death of Wife--"The
Assumption of the Madonna," Cologne Cathedral--Second visit to
Germany--Fete in Cologne--Return to Rome--Studio in Garden House on the
Esquiline Hill--Cartoons and Water-colour Drawings, "The Via
Crucis"--Cartoons and Tempera Drawings, "The Seven
Sacraments"--Commissions from Pius IX., his Portrait, Picture for
Quirinal Palace: the Pope's Visit to the Studio--Portraits of the Artist
by various hands--Overbeck's mental habits: his extraordinary
memory--Modes of Study and of Work--Form--Composition--Colour--The
relation of his Art to nature, tradition, and personal
character--Pecuniary rewards--Influence over the contemporary Schools of
Europe--Closing scenes--Death and Burial                                 76

CHRONOLOGY                                                              109

INDEX                                                                   111




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.


PORTRAIT OF OVERBECK                                        _Frontispiece._

                                                                       PAGE

THE HOLY FAMILY                                                           2

THE NAMING OF ST. JOHN                                                   18

CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE                                                     24

CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN                                          28

THE CALLING OF ST. JAMES AND ST. JOHN                                    48

CHRIST'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM                                            58

CHRIST HEALING THE SICK                                                  70

CHRIST FALLING UNDER THE CROSS                                           76

THE ENTOMBMENT                                                           86

THE RESURRECTION                                                         94

THE CROSS MARKING OVERBECK'S TOMB                                  _Finis._




                                Chart of the Overbeck Family.

                                    CASPAR OVERBECK,
                                Merchant, Religious Refugee.
                                             |
                                CHRISTOPH OVERBECK, Pastor.
                                             |
                        CASPAR NIKOLAS OVERBECK, D. 1752, Pastor.
                                             |
                        Total number of Children 8 sons and 6 daughters:
                        2 sons and 4 daughters died in childhood.
 ____________________________________________|_______________________________________
|         |                |                 |               |         |            |
Johann    Levin   GEORGE CHRISTIAN OVERBECK,  Johann      Gottfried    August      Two
Adolph,   Conrad,     B. 1713, D. 1786,       Daniel,     Ferdinand,   Friedrich,  Daughters
B. 1706,  B. 1712,     Doctor of Laws.        B. 1715,    B. 1717,     B. 1719,    who grew to
Pastor.   Pastor.            |                D. 1802,    Apothecary.  School      womanhood.
                            |                Doctor of                Teacher.
                            |                Theology, &c.
       _____________________|_________________________________________________
      |                                   |                                  |
    Conrad,                     CHRISTIAN ADOLPH OVERBECK,                Johann George,
    Died at Riga,               B. 1755, M. 1781, D. 1821.                D. 1819,
    Merchant.       Doctor of Laws, Syndic, Burgermeister of Lubeck, &c.  Pastor.
                                          |
                    4 sons and 2 daughters: one son died in childhood.
         _________________________________|________________________________________
        |                |                      |                 |               |
Christian Gerhard,  Johannes,  JOHANN FRIEDRICH OVERBECK,     Frau Charlotte  Frau Elizabeth
B. 1784, D. 1846,   D. 1830,   B. in Lubeck 1789, M. 1819,    Leithoff,       Meyer,
Judge, Lubeck.      Merchant.  D. in Rome 1869                deceased.       deceased.
         |                |           The Painter                  |
Christian Theodore,       |                |                   Frau Harms,
B. 1818, D. 1880,         |                |                   Lubeck,
Doctor, Senator;          |                |__________________ living.
left no children.         |                |                 |
     _____________________|_________________             ____|_________________
    |            |            |            |            |                     |
Johannes,     Gustav,      Arnold,      Frau Rath  ALFONS MARIA,        Daughter of the
Professor,    Dusseldorf,  Dusseldorf,  Reuleaux,  Son of the Painter,  Painter: died
Doctor,       living.      living.      Berlin,    B. 1822, D. 1840.    in childhood.
Archaeologist,                           living.
Leipzig,
living.




                            OVERBECK.

                            CHAPTER I.

                          LUBECK--VIENNA.


Johann Friedrich Overbeck was born, as a tablet on his father's house
records, in Lubeck on the 4th of July, 1789. Among his ancestors were
Doctors of Law and Evangelical Pastors. His parents were good
Protestants; his father was Burgomaster in the ancient city. Seldom has
a life been so nicely preordained as that of the young religious
painter. The light of his coming did not shine, as commonly supposed,
out of surrounding darkness. A visit to his birth-place, expressly made
for this memoir, soon showed me that Overbeck, from his youth upwards,
had been tenderly cared for; that he received a classic education; that
his mind was brought under moral and religious discipline; in short,
that the rich harvest of later years had found its seed-time here within
the family home in Lubeck.

The old house in which Overbeck was born has unfortunately, within the
last few years, been modernised, but the original medallion relief of
the painter's head, life-size, is built into the new facade, and the
former structure can be accurately ascertained as well from the designs
of the adjoining tenements as from the living testimony of the
neighbours.[1] The Overbeck mansion stood in the Konig Strasse, a
principal thoroughfare in the heart of an old city which may not inaptly
be designated the Nuremberg of Northern Germany. It is not difficult
here on the spot to picture the life of the painter while yet in his
teens. The historic town of Lubeck had enjoyed a signal political,
commercial and artistic epoch. As the head of the Hanseatic League, it
rose to unexampled prosperity. Deputies from eighty confederate
municipalities assembled in the audience-chamber of the Rathhaus;
fortifications, walls and gateways were reared for defence, and merchant
princes made their opulence and love of ostentation conspicuous in
dwellings of imposing and picturesque design; thus pointed gables,
high-pitched overhanging roofs, stamp with mediaeval character the
present streets. Then, too, were founded rich ecclesiastical
establishments; then was built the cathedral, containing among other
treasures matchless brasses, a unique rood-loft, and a double triptych,
the masterpiece of Memling. This sacred work made a deep impression on
young Overbeck, and is known to have given a direction to his art. About
the same period was also reared the Marien Kirche, enriched with bronze
sacrament-house, old German triptychs and fine painted glass. This is
the church in which the painter's father, as Burgomaster, had a
distinguished stall, elaborately carved; and now, on visiting the spot,
I find appropriately among the treasures two chefs-d'oeuvre which the
son affectionately wrought for the city of his birth. These churches are
Protestant, but fortunately the worst sign of the Reformation is
whitewash, and so the relics of the past are reverently conserved, and
here in Lubeck, as in Nuremberg, the Madonna still holds her honoured
niche, and the saints yet shine from out the painted window, even as in
after-years the selfsame characters appeared on the canvases of
Overbeck. Amid associations thus sacred, encircled by a family addicted
to learning and piety, to poetry and art, was the tranquil spirit of the
young painter led into meditative paths; and as I took my evening walk
at the setting of the sun by the side of the wooded river, under shadow
of the old gateways and churches, it was not very hard to realize how
the love of nature and of art grew up in the mind of the young student,
and how this city of the past proved a fitting prelude to a noble
life-work which set as its goal the revival of what was best and most
beautiful in the olden times.

The family of Overbeck had been for generations preeminent for learning
and piety, and biographers have scarcely sufficiently taken into account
either the Classic or the Christian inheritance of the painter.
Religious teaching and living came by