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SCHNEIDER, JOHANN GOTTLIEB. 



SCHNORR VON KAROLSFELD, JULIUS. 



333 



At the age of eighteen, his uncle sent him to the University of 

 Leipzig to study law. But the acquaintance which he here formed 

 with some of the most eminent philosophers, induced him to resume 

 the study of ancient literature, which he had so successfully com- 

 menced at school. His first work, ' Anmerkungen iiber den Anacreon,' 

 Leipzig, was published in 1770, and in the following year appeared 

 the ' Periculum Criticum in Anthologiam Constantini Cephalae.' To 

 the latter work was added a series of emendations of the text of 

 Aristotle's ' Natural History,' which from this time became his 

 favourite study. In the same year Schneider left Leipzig for 

 Gottingen ; but as his uncle either would not or could not any longer 

 supply him with money, he lived for several years in the greatest 

 poverty, and gladly accepted the offer of Brunck, to whom Heyne 

 introduced him, and who wished to have the assistance of a young 

 scholar for his edition of the Greek poets. Schneider accordingly 

 went to Strasbourg, where he spent three happy years. The influence 

 of the bold and sometimes rash criticism of Brunck is manifest in 

 many of Schneider's works, especially his earlier publications. 



At Strasbourg, Schneider first began to pay attention to anatomy, 

 botany, and zoology, which he did principally with a view to elucidate 

 the ancient writers in these departments of knowledge. Here he also 

 published a work on Pindar, 'Versuch iiber Pindars Leben und 

 Schriften,' 8vo, 1774 ; and Plutarch, 'De Puerorum Educatione, acced. 

 bina ejusd. et Marcelli Sidetae Fragmenta,' 8vo, 1775. Conjointly with 

 Brunck he made an edition of Oppian's Poems, 8vo, 1776; and a 

 collection of the fragments of Pindar, 4to, 1776. In the same year 

 Schneider was invited to the professorship of philology and eloquence 

 in the University of Frankfurt-on-the-Oder. He considered the lectures 

 in the university to be of much less importance than they were gene- 

 rally supposed to be, and accordingly he not only encouraged his 

 pupils to private study, but himself set a most active example. His 

 principal attention however was directed to natural history, and those 

 ancient works on this subject which were totally neglected by scholars ; 

 and he not only availed himself of everything that was within his 

 reach, but undertook journeys to most of the great towns of Germany, 

 where he thought he might collect information from the public and 

 private collections of natural objects. The first work that he published 

 at Frankfurt was an essay, 'De dubia Carminum Orphicorum Aucto- 

 ritate et Vetustate.' In 1811 the University of Frankfurt was trans- 

 ferred to Breslau. Schneider followed the university, and continued 

 to hold the same office. In 1816, on the death of Bredow, who was 

 chief librarian to the university, Schneider gave up his professorship 

 and became Bredow's successor, a post much more suited to his taste. 

 In this office he continued until his death, January 13, 1822. 



Schneider was a man of simple habits often bordering on coarseness, 

 which was probably the consequence of his residence with his uncle, 

 who had no time to attend to his education, and left the boy to the 

 influence of his rough companions ; but he was free from pride or 

 pretension, and took a delight in assisting young men in their studies. 

 As a philologer he ranks in some respects among the first of modern 

 times, and in the department to which he principally devoted his 

 attention he stands almost alone. The criticisms of his maturer age 

 are much more sober and sound than those of his earlier years, though 

 in his German works on natural history he often shows much more 

 learning than judgment and good sense. 



The works which he published after he settled at Frankfurt-on-the- 

 Oder may be divided into two classes : 1, those of a philological and 

 critical character, most of which relate to the subject of natural history 

 as known to the ancients; and, 2, works on natural history, both 

 ancient and modern. The works of this latter class are for the most 

 part written in German. Among the former we shall mention his 

 editions of Demetrius Phalereus, ' De Elocutione Liber,' 8vo, Altenburg, 

 1779 ; JElian, 'De Natur. Animal.' Grace, et Lat., 2 vols. 8vo, Leipzig, 

 1784. In 1790 he undertook the revision of the works of Xenophon, 

 edited by Zeune, and added himself a new and critical edition of the 

 other works of Xenophon with valuable notes. The whole collection 

 of Xenophon's works edited by Schneider consists of 6 vols. in 8vo, and 

 the last edition of them appeared in 1815-25 at Leipzig. Nicauder, 

 ' Alexipharmaca, seu do Venenis, &c., Carmen, cum Vers. Lat., SchoL 

 Grsec.,' &c., 8vo, Hales, 1792; Nicander, 'Theriaca,' 8vo, Leipzig, 

 1816 ; 'Scriptores Rei Rusticse, cum comment, illustr. et fig.,' 4 vols. 

 8vo, Leipzig, 1794-97; 'Aristotelis De Animalibus Historise Libri X., 

 Grsec. et Lat., cum comment, et indice,' 4 vols. 8vo, Leipzig, 1812. In 

 1797 he published the first edition of his ' Greek Dictionary,' the best 

 that had appeared since the days of Henry Stephens. A second edition 

 appeared in 1805, and a third in 1820, 2 vols. 4to ; and in the following 

 year he published a supplement to it. He also edited ' Theophrasti 

 Characteres, cum viror. doct. conject. correcti,' 8vo, Jena, 1799; 

 ' Eclogse Physicac,' 2 vols. 8vo, 1801, comprising the most important 

 parts of natural history known to the ancients, with very valuable 

 notes. 'Argonautica Orphei,' Jena, 1803; Vitruvius, 3 vols. 8vo, 

 Leipzig, 1807; 'Aristotelis Politica,' with a Latin translation, 2 vols. 

 8vo, Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, 1809; ^Esop's ' Fables,' 8vo, Breslau, 1812; 

 Epicuri Physica et Meteorologies,' 8vo, Leipzig, 1813; ' Oppianus, 

 Cyuegetica ct Halieutica,' with a Latin translation, 8vo, Leipzig, 1813. 

 In this edition he has withdrawn many of the bold corrections of his 

 former edition. ' Anonymi OZconomica, quae vulgo Aristotelis falso 

 ferebantur,' 8vo, Leipzig, 1815; 'Theophrasti Opera omnia,' 5 vols. 



8vo, Leipzig, 1818-21, to which in 1822 a sixth volume was added. 

 His German works on natural history, and his short essays on various 

 subjects, are extremely numerous : a complete list of them is given in 

 Meusel's ' Gelfhrtes Deutschland.' 



SCHNORR VON KAROLSFELD, JULIUS, was born at Leipzig on 

 the 26th of March, 1794. His father, Hans Schnorr von Karolsfeld 

 (born 1764, died 1840), a painter of some celebrity in his day, was 

 director of the Art-Academy at Leipzig, and Julius received hn 

 earliest instruction in art from him, though he was desirous that his 

 son should adopt a different profession. But the boy displayed at 

 an unusually early age such remarkable talent for art, and so earnest 

 a desire to follow it, that the elder Schnorr was induced to yield, aud 

 at the age of sixteen Julius was entered a student in the Academy 

 of Painting, at Vienna. There he distinguished himself, though the 

 formal conventionalisms inculcated were anything but favourable to 

 the development of original genius. Happily in good time he pro- 

 ceeded to Rome (1815) where he at once attached himself to the 

 society forming under the auspices of Cornelius and Overbeck, and 

 when that remarkable cluster of young "German painters brought 

 their productions fairly before the artistic world, Julius Schnorr was 

 recognised as one of the most accomplished of the promising band. 

 His work the ' Wedding in Cana,' attracted so much notice that he 

 was chosen along with Cornelius and Overbeck to paint the walls of 

 the villa Maesimi at Rome, in the revived art of fresco, with designs 

 from the trio of great Italian poets Dante, Ariosto, and Tasso. To 

 Schnorr was assigned Ariosto, and his designs were received with 

 general approbation. He also produced while at Rome ' Jacob and 

 Rachel,' ' Madonna and Child,' ' Ruth in the field of Boaz,' ' Flight 

 into Egypt,' and other important works. 



At Rome Schnorr had gained the friendship of Niebuhr, Humboldt, 

 and Bunsen, by whom he was introduced to the munificent patron of 

 artists, Ludwig, crown-prince aud afterwards king of Bavaria. When 

 Ludwig set about the construction of his magnificent works at Munich, 

 Julius Schnorr was one of the artists he summoned to assist in deco- 

 rating them. He removed to Munich in 1 825, and in 1827 was appointed 

 professor of historical painting in the Academy of the Fine Arts there. 

 His first great commission was to paint the state apartments of the new 

 palace, with a series of frescoes from the ancient national poem of the 

 Nibelungen-lied. After these had proceeded some way however, they 

 were suspended in order to complete the decoration of that portion of 

 the palace called the Fest-Saalbau, three grand saloons of which were 

 given to Schnorr to adorn with paintings of large dimensions repre- 

 senting leading events in the history of Charlemagne, Frederic 

 Barbarossa, and Rudolf of Hapsburg, the three rooms being severally 

 named after those personages. These three series of paintiugs 

 occupied Schnorr above ten years. He made all the designs, prepared- 

 the working cartoons, and executed several of the more important 

 paintings, but the greater number were painted under his supervision 

 by his pupils. They are painted in encaustic, and have a grand appear- 

 ance. In some may be discovered much superfluous energy and 

 occasional exaggeration, in others simplicity carried to excess, in many 

 a great redundancy of drapery, and exceptions may, perhaps justly, be 

 taken to much of the colouring ; but after every drawback is allowed, 

 it must,be confessed that they display abundant and vigorous imagina- 

 tive power, immense technical skill, and that they produce a very 

 impressive effect. 



On the completion of his historical, Schnorr returned to his mythic 

 series. Having destroyed such of the frescoes already done as did 

 not satisfy his more mature judgment, he set himself with character- 

 istic diligence to his great task. As completed the Nibeluugen series 

 occupies five chambers, each named from the section of the Lied 

 which is depicted in it. The first called the ' Entrance Hall," contains 

 the personages of the poem. The second or 'Marriage Hall ' is devoted 

 to the leading events in the life of Siegfrid. The third, the ' Hall of 

 Treachery,' contains the story of Hageu's treachery, from the moment 

 when Kriemhild informs Hagen of the secret of Siegfrid's vulnera- 

 bility, to its consummation in Siegfrid's murder. The fourth, the 

 * Hall of Revenge," carries the story on to the death of Hagen by the 

 hand of Kriemhild, and her own death by the sword of Hildebrand. 

 The fifth is the ' Hall of Lamentation.' These paintings, which are in 

 fresco, were likewise allvdesigned by Schnorr and painted by himself 

 and his pupils. They have all the artistic excellences of the historic 

 series just noticed, and are painted with a broader and more genial 

 feeliiig. Of all the many great modern paintings in Munich these 

 arc perhaps the most generally popular, both among the artist's couu 

 trymen, and with strangers. 



Schnorr continued to reside in Munich till he had completed his 

 great works in fresco and encaustic, busy also during the whole time 

 on other paintings, aud designs for engravings, of various degrees of 

 importance, but sufficient alone to have secured him a foremost place 

 among modern painters. In 1846 he accepted an invitation to 

 become director of the Picture Gallery, and professor in the Academy 

 of the Fine Arts at Dresden, where he remained pursuing a course 

 of persevering diligence till his death, which occurred on the 13th of 

 April 1853. 



Several of the works of Julius Schnorr have been engraved. In 

 England he is perhaps best known by his extensive series of Bible, 

 pictures 'Die Bibel in Bildern,' Leipzig, 4to, 1852, &c. These hav e 



