Rethel, Alfred

Rethel, Alfred

▪ German artist
born May 15, 1816, Aachen, Prussia [Ger.]
died Dec. 1, 1859, Düsseldorf

      German artist who painted historical and biblical subjects on a heroic scale that was rare in the Germany of his time. Rethel is best remembered for his vitriolic series of woodcuts, “The Dance of Death.” Although a conservative, he used middle-class raillery against the Revolution of 1848 in woodcuts anticipating the often leftist vehemence of 20th-century German Expressionism.

      Precocious in his art, Rethel entered the Düsseldorf Academy when he was 13 years old and proceeded in 1836 to Frankfurt am Main, where he was chosen to decorate the walls of the venerable Römer Hall. In 1841 he was prizewinner in a contest to decorate the Kaisersaal at Aachen with frescoes on the career of Charlemagne, a project that he was never to complete.

      While in Rome in 1844, Rethel painted his “Hannibal Crossing the Alps” cycle, and then spent a few years in Dresden. Symptoms of mental disorder appeared during a second visit to Rome (1852–53). He produced some of his most impressive works in this period while hovering between madness and sanity. He died in a Düsseldorf asylum.

      The youthful romanticism of such large-scale works as “Entry of Charlemagne into Pavia” presents a startling contrast to his sardonic, inventive “Dance of Death.” The most famous of his series, “Death as Conqueror over the Barricades” (1848), shows a skeleton on horseback leading revolutionaries past corpses and mourners. In its precision of line and mood, it is reminiscent of Albrecht Dürer's drawings.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Rethel, Alfred — Rethel, Alfred, Maler, geb. 15. Mai 1816 in Haus Diepenbend bei Aachen, gest. 1. Dez. 1859 in Düsseldorf, bildete sich auf der Akademie in Düsseldorf unter W. Schadow, begab sich aber, weil der auf der Akademie herrschende Geist nicht seiner… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Rethel, Alfred — • German painter (1816 1859) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Alfred Sohn-Rethel — (* 4. Januar 1899 in Neuilly sur Seine bei Paris; † 6. April 1990 in Bremen) war Nationalökonom, marxistischer Philosoph und Wirtschafts und Industriesoziologe. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Familiäre Herkunft …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Alfred Rethel — Alfred Rethel, Selbstbildnis (1832) Alfred Rethel (* 15. Mai 1816 bei Aachen; † 1. Dezember 1859 in Düsseldorf) war ein deutscher Historienmaler der Spätromantik. Inhaltsverzeic …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Alfred Sohn-Rethel — (4 de enero de 1899, París 6 de abril de 1990, Bremen) fue un economista marxista y filósofo especialmente interesado en epistemología. También escribió acerca de la relación entre la industria alemana con el nazismo. Contenido 1 Vida 2… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Alfred Rethel —     Alfred Rethel     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Alfred Rethel     Born at Aachen, 1816; died at Düsseldorf, 1859. He combined in a brilliant and forcible manner the idealism of the Romantics and Italians, the realism of Dürer, a sense of the… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Rethel — Rethel,   Alfred, Maler und Zeichner, * Diepenbenden (heute zu Aachen) 15. 5. 1816, ✝ Düsseldorf 1. 12. 1859; war nach der Ausbildung in Düsseldorf (W. von Schadow) und Frankfurt am Main (P. Veit) dort bis 1847 tätig, dann in Aachen, Düsseldorf,… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Rethel [2] — Rethel, Alfred, geb. 15. Mai 1816 bei Aachen, trat 1829 in die Düsseldorfer Malerakademie ein u. wendete sich 1836 nach Frankfurt a. M., wo er einige Bilder für den Römersaal lieferte; nachdem er eine Reise nach Italien gemacht hatte, begann er… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Rethel [2] — Rethel, Alfred, Historienmaler, geb. 15 Mai 1816 in Haus Diepenbend bei Aachen, gest. geisteskrank 1. Dez. 1859 in Düsseldorf. Hauptwerk die acht Fresken im Rathaussaal zu Aachen aus der Geschichte Karls d. Gr. (1845 52; nur vier von R. selbst… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Alfred Rethel — (1816 December 1, 1859) was a German history painter.Rethel was born in Aachen in 1816. He showed an interest in art in his early life, and at the age of thirteen he executed a drawing which procured his admission to the academy of Düsseldorf.… …   Wikipedia

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