The New Student's Reference Work/Cornelius, Peter von

Corne′lius, Peter von, one of the first masters of the modern German school of painting, was born at Düsseldorf, Sept. 23. 1783. When but 19 years old, he painted some fine frescoes in an old church. In Munich he painted his greatest works—a series of frescoes based on the stories of the Greek gods and heroes, and another series of New Testament scenes from the Incarnation to the Judgment, the latter being the largest fresco in the world. He achieved fame also by his Four Riders of the Apocalypse, painted in Berlin. More important than his paintings, perhaps, was the impetus he gave to wall-decoration. He died at Berlin March 6, 1867.