The New International Encyclopædia/Wislicenus, Hermann

WISLICENUS, Hermann (1825-99). A German historical painter, born at Eisenach. In 1844 he began his studies at the Dresden Academy, where he afterwards became a pupil of Bendemann and of Julius Schnorr, under whose influence he painted his first picture, “Abundance and Misery,” which was acquired by the Dresden Gallery. A stipend from the Grand Duke of Weimar enabled him to study (1853-57) in Italy, where he became a follower of Cornelius. On his return he settled at Weimar, and among other oil paintings, water-colors, and cartoons executed “Night With Its Retinue,” for the Grand Duke of Weimar, the “Myth of Prometheus” (1862, Leipzig Museum), “The Flood of Deucalion” (1865, Weimar Museum); the mural paintings “Brutus as Judge of his Sons” and “The Mother of the Gracchi,” in the staircase of Dr. Härtel's Roman House at Leipzig; “Fancy Borne by the Dreams” (Schaek Gallery, Munich); “Angels Singing Psalms,” mural painting (Grand-ducal chapel, Weimar). Appointed professor at the Düsseldorf Academy, in 1868, he painted there “The Four Seasons” (1877, National Gallery, Berlin). In the competition for the decoration of the restored Kaiserhaus at Goslar he won the first prize, and, assisted by some of his pupils, completed the frescoes depicting various characteristic episodes in the evolution of the German Empire, in 1897.