Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld

(1788 Königsberg – 1853 Vienna)

Initially trained by his father, Hans Veit Friedrich Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Ludwig went on to study under Heinrich Füger at the Vienna Academy in 1804. Here he came into contact with the Catholic circles of Viennese Romanticism and was strongly influenced by the views of Friedrich von Schlegel. Starting in 1811, a fruitful association developed between the Schnorr von Carolsfeld brothers (Ludwig and Julius) and the Olivier brothers (Ferdinand and Friedrich). Their acquaintanceship with Joseph Anton Koch, who lived and worked in Vienna between 1812 and 1815, proved another significant stylistic influence. In 1818, after the death of Heinrich Füger, Ludwig applied unsuccessfully for a professorship at the Vienna Academy. That same year his brother Julius arrived in Rome, where he joined the Nazarenes. Ludwig’s later artistic career got off to an auspicious start. He was vigorously backed by his sponsor Archduke Johann, who employed him as a chamber painter in Styria from 1818 to 1828. At the instance of his mentor, Ludwig was made a member of the Vienna Academy in 1835 and appointed senior custodian of the Imperial collection of paintings at Schloss Belvedere in 1843. Nor was his work as a teacher without influence. Moritz von Schwind is held to be his most important pupil.