Christoph Heinrich Kniep

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Self portrait

Christoph Heinrich Kniep (* 1755 in Hildesheim , † July 11, 1825 in Naples ) was a German portrait, vedute and landscape draftsman.

Temple of Paestum

At first he worked as a portrait draftsman. In 1781 he traveled to Italy, where he mainly drew vedutas and landscapes. He is best known for accompanying Goethe on his Italian trip (1787) from Naples to Sicily , which was arranged by Goethe's friend Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein . After separating from Goethe on the return journey from Sicily, Kniep stayed in Naples.

There are pencil, red chalk and sepia drawings , watercolors, etc. by Goethe himself as well as by Kniep . Ä. Received, so that a qualitative comparison of both is possible. In Goethe's own judgment, Kniep drew the landscape while he, however, schematized it. In fact, this is where the essential difference in the presentation to Goethe lies. The landscape and architectural drawings by Knieps like u. a. of Paestum and Pompeii are characterized by an extraordinary level of detail, so that they should definitely be considered as archaeological documents.

Tischbein did find a lot to complain about Kniep. Although Kniep worked very carefully, in Tischbein's opinion he was very slow and phlegmatic. In addition, he usually sold his drawings well below their value. Apparently, Kniep was not too business-minded and therefore probably did not attain wealth. Because of his intellectual disposition and probably also literary education, Goethe himself had valued him less than Jakob Philipp Hackert , for whom he had written a biography, or Georg Melchior Kraus . However, he praised Kniep's drawings very much.

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personal data
SURNAME Kniep, Christoph Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German portrait, vedute and landscape draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH 1755
PLACE OF BIRTH Hildesheim
DATE OF DEATH July 11, 1825
Place of death Naples