Heinrich Füger


Heinrich Friedrich Füger was a German classicist portrait and historical painter.

Biography

Füger was born in Heilbronn. He was the son of Joseph Gabriel Füger, a Pietist pastor and later the highest-ranking clergyman in Heilbronn. Füger began his training as a painter in 1764 with court painter Nicolas Guibal at the Hohe Karlsschule in Stuttgart. From 1769, he continued his studies in Leipzig with Johann Wolfgang Goethe's drawing teacher Adam Friedrich Oeser. He then untertook a study trip to Italy, to Naples, where he painted frescoes in the Palazzo Caserta. In 1774, he moved to Vienna. The English ambassador to the Viennese court, Robert Murray Keith (British Army officer), became his patron and supporter. Through him, he came into contact with the imperial family. From then on, his further education and career were promoted by the highest political authorities. In the fall of 1776, he received a scholarship for a study visit to Rome lasting several years. His further artistic development was strongly influenced by Anton Raphael Mengs. From 1781 to 1783, he worked for the imperial family in the vicinity of Naples.
In 1783, State Chancellor Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg appointed him deputy director of the Vienna Academy, then one of Europe's leading art academies. From 1791 until the death of his wife in 1807, Füger was married to the actress Anna Josefa Hortensia Müller, daughter of Johann Heinrich Friedrich Müller. In 1795, Füger became director of the academy, which flourished under his leadership. In 1806, he became director of the imperial picture gallery and castle captain at Belvedere Palace.
Among his historical paintings are: The Farewell of Coriolanus, Allegory on the Peace of Vienna, The Death of Germanicus, The Assassination of Caesar, and Bathsheba. Among his portraits are those of the Emperor Joseph II, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Wilhelmine of Württemberg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Queen Caroline of Naples, and Horatio Nelson, who sat for him in Vienna in 1800. He painted in the classic style of Louis David and Anton Raphael Mengs and was inclined to be theatrical.
Füger was also a teacher; among his pupils was Gustav Philipp Zwinger, and Franciszek Ksawery Lampi. He died in Vienna.