The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Dietz, Feodor

DIETZ, dēts, Feodor, German painter: b. Neunstetten, Baden, 29 May 1813; d. Gray, France, 18 Nov. 1870. He studied in Karlsruhe under Karl and Rudolf Kuntz, and while there was greatly influenced by Feodor Ivanovitch. He also studied under Philip Foltz at the Munich Academy, and aided the latter in the decoration of the royal palace. In 1835 he executed his ‘Death of Max Piccolomini,’ now in the Karlsruhe Gallery, which brought him considerable fame. He spent three years in Paris, coming under the influence of Horace Vernet, and receiving the gold medal in the Salon of 1839. He was appointed court painter at Karlsruhe, but removed to Munich. He took part in the campaign of 1848 in Schleswig-Holstein, and in 1862 was appointed professor of the newly-founded School of Arts at Karlsruhe. He entered the army in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War, and died in the service. He is best remembered as a historical and battle painter. His best works are ‘Nocturnal Review’ (1853); ‘Destruction of Heidelberg by General Mela’ (1856), in the Karlsruhe Gallery; ‘Flight of an American Family Across the Susquehanna’; ‘Blücher's March to Paris’ (1868), in the Berlin National Gallery.