Franz Ludwig Catel

Franz Ludwig Catel was a German painter. He spent most of his career in Rome.

Catel was born at Berlin in 1778. He began his artistic career by carving in wood, and then designed book illustrations, including, in 1799, ten plates for Goethe's Hermann and Dorothea. He then worked in Indian ink and water-colours, producing in 1806 a large piece in the latter medium, representing The Death of Nicholas of Bernau, which gained him admission into the Berlin Academy. In 1807 he went to Paris, where he studied oil painting.

The year 1812 found him at Rome, where his education as an artist was much advanced by his connection with Koch, Overbeck, Schadow, and Cornelius.

His inclination led him more especially in the direction of painting landscapes with prominent architectural details or figures in the foreground often moving into the territory of genre painting. He attached himself to the new classic school of landscape, labouring especially to make his perspective tell effectively, and to gain a great mastery over light and shade. His ideas gained much in point of breadth from a visit to Sicily, which he made in company with Prince Golitsuin in 1818.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023