Friedrich painter

Friedrich Maler (* October 1799 in Müllheim ; † November 1, 1875 in Venice ) was a German architect , diplomat , art collector and art agent.

Friedrich Maler came from a well-branched and respected family in Baden. His father was a senior official. He began a military career with the Dragoons in 1816 , but after a riding accident in 1823 he had to end this career and was retired. After retiring, he began to study architecture with Friedrich Weinbrenner . After Weinbrenner's death, he traveled to France, England and Italy from 1826 to 1828, and Spain from 1828 to 1830. In Italy he stayed mainly in Rome . He wrote a thesis on architecture in Spain, for which he was awarded the gold medal for art and craftsmanship. The young Grand Duke Leopold also became aware of him. Painter was appointed Rittmeister à la suite , but he was denied a job as an architect. In 1834 he was appointed as Baden and at the same time Württemberg and Hessian chargé d' affaires at the Holy See , in 1837 the powers of attorney were extended to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies . However, he was only paid for his work for Baden, which is why the position remained a grant business for him. In Rome he moved in the circle of the men who founded the Istituto di corrispondenza archeologica in 1829 , such as the Prussian ambassador Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen , the Hanoverian business agent August Kestner (who drew a portrait of painter in 1841), the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen , the painter Johannes Riepenhausen Otto Magnus von Stackelberg and Pierre-Louis de Blacas d'Aulps . The English architect William B. Clarke introduced painter to the circle in 1840. Painter himself had enough time in Rome to devote himself to archaeological studies in addition to his official business, and in 1837 reported on Sicilian tombs and paintings, for which he made his own drawings. As usual, the lecture was also published in the Society's publications.

In 1837, Maler was commissioned to acquire antiques for the art museum in Karlsruhe, which was being founded. Within about a year, painters in the region near Rome, Naples , Ruvo , Agrigento and Palermo amassed an impressive collection of sometimes extremely high quality at comparatively modest prices. This was probably due to the cholera epidemic, which kept many travelers and potential buyers away from the excavation regions, especially from England. Maler housed so well that he did not exceed his budget of 6,600 guilders. While the economic documents still exist today, the scientific documents were lost early on, which is why the origin of the individual pieces can unfortunately no longer be easily ascertained today. Not all pieces acquired from different owners were allowed to be exported, as the permits were not granted and painter was in some cases hindered by jealous other collectors at the Bourbon court. Part of it could be carried out after the intervention of the Grand Duke with King Ferdinand II . The first 17 of 18 boxes probably arrived in Karlsruhe as early as October 1838, another box did not arrive until 1839. The arrival of the antiques is considered to be the founding date of the collection of antiques in Karlsruhe. The works acquired with great expertise include, for example, the underworld vase and a black-figure column crater depicting the escape of Odysseus from the cave of Polyphemus , hidden under a ram . In total, he had acquired more than 400 vases and terracottas from Greece and southern Italy.

In October 1838, Maler also returned to Karlsruhe on vacation and arrived shortly before the antiquities. He was rewarded for his work with the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Zähringer Löwen and an invitation to the Grand Duke's lunch. A month before he returned to Rome in March 1839, he married in Karlsruhe. Back in Italy, Maler tried for several years both to get further funds for purchases of antiques and to be appointed regular envoy. Both ideas failed again and again. After ceramics, he wanted to expand the collection of antiquities with the bronzes, which he valued even more highly, which the ministry rejected, not least because of the high prices, and put the funds on hold. However, Maler now acquired his own collection of antiquities, including from the estate of the Swedish consul in Istanbul , Nils Gustaf Palin, who was murdered in 1843 . In addition to some vases, bronzes were the painter's central interest. His collection of ancient armor was quickly known, Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker called it the famous collection of Greek armor . An Etruscan thymiaterion is also one of the very well-known pieces from Maler's collection. The trigger for the recall in 1843 was Maler's request for an increase in salary, since the family, which now has two children, could not be adequately provided for with the previous earnings. Authorization to export the collection of antiquities was granted by the Holy See. On the return journey to Baden, the painter's young wife died in Milan. The wish to be appointed director of the new art gallery in Karlsruhe was not fulfilled, but he was appointed major. He became an appraiser for the expansion of the plaster cast collection and for the purchase of the Schüler collection . He retired to Baden-Baden , where his collection became part of the sophisticated world of the rich of the time. The first negotiations with the Kunsthalle about a purchase were conducted in 1847, but it was not until the Louvre and other collections made serious offers and painters also added 80 paintings, mostly Italian painters, that the purchase was approved in March 1853 for 25,000 guilders. With this, the collection received the expansion planned by Maler in the area of ​​antique bronzes. He spent his retirement in Baden-Baden until 1860, then in Munich. From his fortune he donated five travel grants for the training of young architects. He died on a trip to Venice in 1875.

literature

• Arthur von Schneider: The acquisitions of the antique collections for the Leopoldinum Museum by the Baden chargé d'affaires at the Roman court Friedrich Maler . In: Journal for the history of the Upper Rhine , Issue 100, 1952, pp. 692–714.
• Badisches Landesmuseum (publisher): 150 years of antique collections in Karlsruhe (1838–1988). Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe 1988, ISBN 3-923132-15-8 , pp. 36–43.
• Fritzi Jurgeit: Friedrich painter. A "fine art connoisseur" from Baden in Rome. In: Antike Welt , 33rd year 2002, pp. 243–246.