Melchior Paul von Deschwanden
Encyclopedia
Melchior-Paul von Deschwanden (January 10, 1811 - February 25, 1881) was a Swiss religious painter.
, in Canton Nidwalden, the son of Johann Baptist Deschwanden and Regina Luthiger. He was Roman Catholic and remained a bachelor.
(1830). After going to Lausanne
to learn French (1835–1836), he returned home until 1838-1840 when he studied at the Florentine Academy and whilst there he won first prize for an oil of a male nude; and yet he was particularly drawn to the works of Fra Angelico
.
. Though himself a portraitist of talent, he devoted more of his time to religious paintings, creating a style of simple understandable compositions, expressive figures and a smooth technique. Deschwanden is believed to have painted over 2000 works, amongst which the greatest number are altarpieces, and for nearly forty years he dominated religious painting in Switzerland, whose works were well-received in Catholic and Protestant circles, and consequently he sent his works all over the world, and examples of which may be found in churches in Annapolis, Maryland and Covington, Kentucky. His work was widely reproduced in pious chromolithographic reproductions.
in whose arms he is documented as dying in February 1881.
Early Life in Switzerland
Deschwanden was born in StansStans
Stans is the capital of the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-History:Stans is one of the oldest settlements in the entire Nidwalden valley. The first traces of human settlement date to the 2nd Century BC...
, in Canton Nidwalden, the son of Johann Baptist Deschwanden and Regina Luthiger. He was Roman Catholic and remained a bachelor.
Artistic Training
He studied drawing with Louis Victor von Deschwanden, Johann Kaspar Moos (1825–1826) in Zug, Daniel Albert Freudweiler and Johann Caspar Schinz in Zurich (1827), then he enrolled in the Munich AcademyAcademy of Fine Arts, Munich
The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich was founded 1808 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria in Munich as the "Royal Academy of Fine Arts" and is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany...
(1830). After going to Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
to learn French (1835–1836), he returned home until 1838-1840 when he studied at the Florentine Academy and whilst there he won first prize for an oil of a male nude; and yet he was particularly drawn to the works of Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico , born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter described by Vasari in his Lives of the Artists as having "a rare and perfect talent"...
.
Religious Painter
After a meeting with the Nazarene artist Friedrich Overbeck, he made a conscience decision to devote his life's work to religious painting. After returning to Switzerland finally, he received his first order from an ecclesiastical source, altarpieces for the chapel of St. Peter in Lucerne. In 1842 he met members of the Dusseldorf school of painters and became interested in the work of the Austrian artist Edward Steinle, a fashionable religious painter and a Nazarene. In 1845 he discovered in the church of St. Louis in Munich murals by Peter von Cornelius a classical artist who had been influenced by the Nazarenes, and visited one of his pupils the portrait painter and history painter Wilhelm von KaulbachWilhelm von Kaulbach
Wilhelm von Kaulbach was a German painter, noted mainly as a muralist, but also as a book illustrator. His murals decorate buildings in Munich.-Education:...
. Though himself a portraitist of talent, he devoted more of his time to religious paintings, creating a style of simple understandable compositions, expressive figures and a smooth technique. Deschwanden is believed to have painted over 2000 works, amongst which the greatest number are altarpieces, and for nearly forty years he dominated religious painting in Switzerland, whose works were well-received in Catholic and Protestant circles, and consequently he sent his works all over the world, and examples of which may be found in churches in Annapolis, Maryland and Covington, Kentucky. His work was widely reproduced in pious chromolithographic reproductions.
Pupils
Deschwanden is known to have taken many pupils, amongst whom were the fellow artist from Stans Adalbert Baggenstos, and the Swiss-born American painter Adolfo Müller-UryAdolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Muller-Ury was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life.-Heritage and early life in Switzerland:...
in whose arms he is documented as dying in February 1881.