1824 -1911 · Darmstadt, Rome and Dresden

Accessible spirituality, academic drawing and collected expression give Heinrich Hofmann's biblical scenes exceptional diffusion.

Johann Michael Ferdinand Heinrich Hofmann was born in Darmstadt in 1824. He trained at the Düsseldorf Academy with Theodor Hildebrandt, then continued his apprenticeship in several major European centers, notably Antwerp, Paris, Munich, Dresden, Prague, Venice and Rome. This mobility nourishes an academic language attentive to drawing, narrative clarity and facial expression. Hofmann begins with history portraiture and painting. His mother's death orients him more deeply towards religious subjects; he seeks to give Christ a human, interior and immediately understandable presence. Installed in Dresden with his wife in 1862, he became a professor at the Academy fine arts in 1870. His biblical paintings were reproduced by engraving, photography and religious publishing, which broadened their audience well beyond museums and churches. Christ in Gethsemane is among the most widely distributed images of his career. Isolated in the night, the kneeling figure raises its eyes to an invisible light; the pose, hands and face express both anguish and acceptance. The painter favors a readable composition, a gentle modeling and a directed light which transforms the story into personal meditation. Several major works, including Christ and the Rich Young Man, Christ in the Temple and Christ in Gethsemane, are found today at the Riverside Church in New York. Removed from teaching after the death of his wife, Hofmann died in Dresden in 1911, leaving a lastingly popular Christian iconography. The "Heinrich Hofmann" selection notably compares Christ in Gethsemane. His reading favors color.

Hofmann brings the biblical episode closer to the viewer: the setting fades, the light leads to the face and the gesture makes the prayer as human as it is sacred.