Piloty, Karl Theodor Von

Born Oct. 1, 1826, in Munich; died July 21, 1886, in Ansbach, Upper Bavaria. German painter, representative of late academic romanticism.

In 1840, Piloty enrolled at the Academy of Arts in Munich, where he studied with J. Schorr von Karolsfeld. He subsequently taught at the academy, becoming a professor in 1856; he became the academy’s director in 1874. Piloty was the teacher of many German and foreign artists. He painted huge compositions that were filled with detail and were devoted mainly to historical subjects. His works were often decorative and superficial. Examples of Piloty’s paintings are Seni at the Dead Body of Wallenstein (1885, New Pinakothek, Munich) and The Death of Alexander in Babylon (1886, National Gallery, Berlin).