Karl Friedrich Rumohr

Karl Friedrich Rumohr

Art historian, b. at Dresden, 1785; d. there, 1843. He became a Catholic in 1804. He was blessed not only with worldly possessions, but also with a practically unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and especially with a keen sense of form and beauty, which fitted him for the critical treatment of art and social relations. Italy was frequently visited by him, and he was fond of varying life in the large cities with the stillness and loneliness of the country. Exercising a magnificent hospitality, he himself was in many places, despite his very irritable temperament, a welcome guest—even with King William IV of Prussia and Christian VIII of Denmark. In his "Italienische Forschungen" (3 vols., 182-31), he treated in masterly fashion the Umbrian-Tuscan School of painting, and prepared the way for a critical conception of art history in Italy. His residence in Italy also gave rise to interesting works on the rural condition of Central and Upper Italy. His "Drei Reisen nach Italien" appeared as a special work. As the result of searching study he wrote "Hans Holbein der Jungere in seinem Verhältnis zum deutschen Formschnittwesen", "Zur Geschichte und Theorie der Formschneidekunst", and "Geschichte der königlichen Kupferstichsammlung zu Kopenhagen". His "Novellen" ae unimportant, his "Deutsche Denkwürdigkeiten" (4 vols.), of little interest; his "Hunde-Füchsestreit" (Kynalopekomachie) and "Schule der Höflichkeit" are written in a humorous vein. The "Geist der Kochkunst" also extended his fame and popularity. King Christian VIII built a monument in his honour.

Biography by SCHULZ (Leipzig, 1844); POEL in Allg. Deutsche Biogr., XXIX.

G. GIETMANN