Feuerbach, Anselm

Born Sept. 12, 1829, in Speyer; died Jan. 4, 1880, in Venice. German painter. Grandson of the criminologist A. Feuerbach and nephew of the philosopher L. Feuerbach.

Feuerbach studied at the academies of Düsseldorf (1845–48), Munich (1848–50), and Paris (1851–54). Beginning in 1855, he lived mainly in Italy—from 1857 to 1873 in Rome and from 1876 in Venice. His work was influenced by G. Courbet, P. P. Rubens, and the 16th-century Italian masters.

Feuerbach sought to revive monumental art in the Renaissance style, and his works reflect the influence of neo-idealism and neo-classicism. His enormous canvases, which depict scenes from Greek and Roman mythology, are marked by a stately, idealized quality. They are distinguished for the material tangibility of their figures, as well as for their flowing rhythm and decorative tonal effects. Important examples include Iphigeneia (1862; Hesse Museum, Darmstadt) and The Banquet (1869; Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe).