Quick Facts
Biography
Heinrich Friedrich Füger (8 December 1751 Heilbronn – 5 November 1818 Vienna) was a German classicism portrait and historical painter.
Biography
Füger was a pupil of Nicolas Guibal in Stuttgart and of Adam Friedrich Oeser in Leipzig. Afterward he traveled and spent some time in Rome and Naples, where he painted frescoes in the Palazzo Caserta. On his return to Vienna he was appointed court painter, professor and vice director of the Academy, and in 1806 director of the Belvedere Gallery.
Among his historical paintings are: The Farewell of Coriolanus (Czernin Gallery, Vienna), Allegory on the Peace of Vienna (1801), The Death of Germanicus (1789), The Murder of Caesar, and Bathsheba (Budapest Gallery). Among his portraits are those of the Emperor Joseph II, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Wilhelmine of Württemberg, Queen Caroline of Naples, and Horatio Nelson, who sat for him in Vienna in 1800 (National Portrait Gallery, London). He painted in the classic style of Louis David and Anton Raphael Mengs and was inclined to be theatrical.
Füger was also a teacher; among his pupils was Gustav Philipp Zwinger, and Franciszek Ksawery Lampi.
Selected paintings
Execution of a Vestal Virgin, Detail
Portrait of Prince Nikolay Yusupov, Detail
Prometheus Brings Fire to Mankind
Apotheosis of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Portrait of Marie Thérèse of France
