Wilhelm Heinrich Ludwig Gruner (24 February 1801 - 27 February 1882) was a German artist, engraver,[1] architect and art historian, who also served as director of the Kupferstich-Kabinett, Dresden. His art historical writings were mostly dominated by his admiration of Raphael and the Italian Renaissance.
Life
Born in Dresden,[2] he initially wanted to become a decorative painter, a plan scotched in the mid-1840s by an eye problem.[3] He began his studies in 1815 under Klinger before enrolling at the Dresden Academy under Ephraim Gottlieb Krüger. Patrons then funded a move to the academy in Milan in 1825, where he studied under Giuseppe Longhi and Pietro Anderloni, and a journey through southern France and Spain in 1828, including three months studying the Escorial. Returning to Germany in 1832, he completed an engraving of the portrait of Anton Raphael Mengs before a journey to England and Scotland, where he saw a number of Madonnas after Raphael and at Blenheim PalaceThe Exposition of Moses.[4]
From 1845 to 1848 he lived in Rome again before being appointed director of the Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden on 2 July 1858, also receiving a professorship at the academy there (Ernst Mohn was one of his students) and becoming a member of the gallery commission. He began buying valuable Spanish paintings for its collection in London as early as 1863 - they had originated in the collection of Louis Philippe of France. He travelled to London almost every summer, working for the Arundel Society, decorating the ceiling of the Blue Room in Windsor Castle after Albert's death there in 1861 and collaborating with A. J. Humbert to design both the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum (1860)[10] and the Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore (1862)[11] Excavation work started on the site of the mausoleum on 27 January 1862, the final plans having been approved by Victoria that day.[11] Victoria had had previous meetings with Humbert and Gruner to finalise and approve their designs for Frogmore.[11] Gruner himself died in Dresden.
Christ on the Mount of Olives after a work then thought to be by Raphael but now probably attributed to Lo Spagna in the National Gallery, London[12]
Saint Laurence Giving Alms in the Fiesole Chapel in the Vatican
Caryatids by Raphael in the Vatican (Raffael-Karyatiden aus dem Vatikan) 1852 (15 leaves)
Selected writings
The decorations of the garden pavilion in the grounds of Buckingham Palace. London 1846, doi:10.11588/diglit.33817.
Specimens of ornamental art selected from the best models of the classical epochs. 1850
Fresco decorations and stuccoes of churches & palaces in Italy during the fifteenth & sixteenth centuries with descriptions. Thomas Mc Lean, London 1854 (englisch, Ludwig Gruner is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive).
Adolf Gutbier, Wilhelm Lübke: Rafael-Werk: sämmtliche Tafelbilder und Fresken des Meisters in Nachbildungen nach Kupferstichen und Photographien. Adolf Gutbier, Dresden 1875 (Mit Stichen von Gruner, Ludwig Gruner is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive).
As director of the Königlichen Kupferstichkabinett he also published:
Die Basreliefs an der Vorderseite des Doms von Orvieto, Marmor-Bildwerke der Schule der Pisaner. Leipzig 1858 (Text von Braun);
„Lo Scaffale“, or presses in the sacristy of the church of Sta Maria delle Grazie at Milano. Illustrations of the painted decorations by Bernardino Luini. London 1859–1860.
Verzeichniss der im Königlichen Museum zu Dresden aufgestellten Original-Zeichnungen alter und neuer Meister. C. C. Meinhold & Söhne, Dresden 1862 (books.google.de).
The Green Vaults Dresden, illustrations of the choicests works in that museum of art. C. C. Weinhold and sons, Dresden 1862 (Ludwig Gruner is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive).
The Terracotta architecture of North Italy: (XIIth-XV centuries); pourtrayed as examples for imitation in other countries; from careful drawings and restorations. John Murray, London 1867 (Ludwig Gruner is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive).
References
^(in German)'Gruner, Ludwig, Kupferstecher.' In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon. 4. Auflage. Band 8, Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, Leipzig/Wien 1885–1892, page 506.
^Hans Wolfgang Singer: 'Gruner, Ludwig (Wilhelm Heinrich Ludw.).' In: Ulrich Thieme, Fred. C. Willis (ed.): Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Begründet von Ulrich Thieme und Felix Becker. Band 15: Gresse–Hanselmann. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1922, pages 147–148
^(in German) Hans Wolfgang Singer: Gruner, Ludwig (Wilhelm Heinrich Ludw.). In: Ulrich Thieme, Fred. C. Willis (ed.s): Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Begründet von Ulrich Thieme und Felix Becker. Band 15: Gresse–Hanselmann. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1922, pages 147–148
^Mosaics of the cupola in the "Cappella Chigiana" Sta. Maria del Popolo in Rome designed by Raffaelle Sanzio d’Urbino. Paul & Dominic Colnaghi & Co., London 1850