1783 -1867 · Düsseldorf, Rome, Munich and Berlin

Monumental drawing, resurgent fresco and biblical story make Peter von Cornelius one of the leaders of the Nazarenes.

Peter von Cornelius was born in Düsseldorf in 1783 and died in Berlin in 1867. Trained at the Academy of Düsseldorf, he first became known through a cycle drawn after Goethe's Faust. In 1811, he joined the brotherhood of Saint Luke in Rome, soon called the Nazarene movement. These artists sought to restore to painting the religious sincerity, narrative clarity and collective techniques attributed to the Middle Ages and the first Renaissance. These artists sought to restore religious sincerity, narrative clarity and collective techniques attributed to the Middle Ages and the first Renaissance. Cornelius participated in the frescoes of Casa Bartholdy devoted to the history of Joseph, then to the decorations of Villa Massimo. Cornelius participated in the frescoes of Casa Bartholdy devoted to the history of Joseph, then to the decorations of Villa Massimo. Cornelius participated in the frescoes of Casa Bartholdy devoted to the history of Joseph, then to the decorations of Villa Massimo. His language favors the outline, the monumental figure and the organization of large ensembles. Joseph recognized by his brothers condenses biblical emotion into legible gestures and a solemn frieze. The Three Marys at the Tomb articulates revelation around retained attitudes. The two versions of The Wise Virgins and The Mad Virgins show how he develops a moral subject from study to a more ambitious composition. Called by Prince Louis of Bavaria, Cornelius directed the academies of Düsseldorf then Munich and designed the sets for the Glyptothèque and the Ludwigskirche. In Berlin, he pursued vast wall painting projects, often preserved mainly by their life-size cartoons. His influence on teaching and the great German decor of the 19th century is considerable. The "Peter von Cornelius" selection notably compares The Wise Virgins and the Mad Virgins and The Parable of the Wise and Mad Virgins, unfinished. Its reading favors atmosphere.

Cornelius thinks of painting as an inhabited wall: the outline disciplines the figures, the gesture exposes the story and the whole seeks the gravity of the old masters.