Peter von Cornelius

Peter von Cornelius (23 September 1783, Düsseldorf – 6 March 1867, Berlin) was a German painter and one of the main representatives of the Nazarene movement. He was the uncle of the composer Peter Cornelius (1824–1874).

Cornelius was born in Düsseldorf. From the age of twelve he attended drawing classes at the Düsseldorf Academy. His father, who was superintendent of the Düsseldorf gallery and professor at the academy, died in 1799, after which Cornelius supported his family by his work as a portraitist and illustrator. In a letter to the Count Raczynski he wrote:It fell to the lot of an elder brother and myself to watch over the interests of a numerous family.

It was at this time that it was attempted to persuade my mother that it would be better for me to devote myself to the trade of a goldsmith than to continue to pursue painting – in the first place, in consequence of the time necessary to

qualify me for the art, and in the next, because there were already so many painters.