SCHEFFER, ARY (1795-1858)

This article appears in Volume V24, Page 316 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SAR-SCY

SCHEFFER, ARY (1795-1858) , French painter of Dutch extraction, was born at Dort on the loth of February 1745. After the early death of his father, a poor painter, Ary was taken to Paris and placed in the studio of Guerin by his mother, a woman of

great

GREAT

energy and character. The moment at which Scheffer left Guerin coincided with the commencement of the Romantic

movement

MOVEMENT

. He had little sympathy with the directions given to it by either of its most conspicuous representatives,

Sigalon

SIGALON, XAVIER (1788–1837)

, Delacroix or Gericault, and made various tentative efforts" Gaston de

Foix

FOIX

" (1824), " Suliot Women " (1827)before he found his own path. Immediately after the exhibition of the last-named

work

WORK

he turned to Byron and Goethe, selecting from Faust a long

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of subjects which had an extraordinary vogue. Of these, we may mention " Margaret at her Wheel "; " Faust Doubting "; " Margaret at the Sabbat "; " Margaret Leaving Church "; the " Garden Walk "; and lastly, perhaps the most popular of all, " Margaret at the Well." The two"Mignons " appeared in 1836; and " Francesca da Rimini," which is on the whole Scheffer's best

work

WORK

, belongs to the same period. He now turned to religious subjects: " Christus Consolator " (1836) was followed by " Christus Remunerator," " The Shepherds Led by the

Star

STAR

" (1837), " The Magi Laying Down their Crowns," " Christ in the Garden of Olives," " Christ bearing his Cross," " Christ Interred " (1845), " St Augustine and'Monica " (1846), after which he ceased to exhibit, but, shut up in his studio, continued to produce much which was first seen by the outer world after his death, which took place at Argenteuil on the 15th of June 1858. At the posthumous exhibition of his works there figured the " Sorrows of the Earth," and the "

Angel

ANGEL

Announcing the Resurrection," which he had left unfinished. Amongst his numerous portraits those of La Fayette, Beranger, Lamartine and Marie Amelie were the most noteworthy. His reputation, much shaken by this posthumous exhibition, was further undermined by the sale of the Paturle Gallery, which contained many of his most celebrated achievements; the charm and facility of their composition could not save them from the condemnation provoked by their poor and earthy colour and vapid sentiment. Scheffer, who married the widow of General Baudrand, was only made

commander

COMMANDER

of the Legion of Honour in 1848that is, after he had wholly withdrawn from the Salon. His brother Henri, born at the Hague on the 27th of September 1798, was also a fertile painter.
See Vitet's notice (1861) prefixed to

Bingham

BINGHAM, JOSEPH (1668-1723)

's publication of works of A. Scheffer; Etex, Ary Scheffer; Mrs Grote, Life of A. Scheffer (i86o).

End of Article: SCHEFFER, ARY (1795-1858)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/SAR_SCY/SCHEFFER_ARY_1795_1858_.html">
SCHEFFER, ARY (1795-1858)
</a>

(Previous)
SCHEFFEL, JOSEPH VIKTOR VON (18261886)

(Next)
SCHELANDRE, JEAN DE (c. 1585-1635)

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email