melchior paul von deschwanden (1811 - 1881)
Melchior Paul von Deschwanden was a Swiss painter, representative of the Nazarene style.
He studied at the Munich Academy and then at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. His meeting there with the German "Nazarene" Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869) played a decisive role in the future fate and creativity Deschwanden. He devoted much time to the study of Nazarene art, a romantic-religious artistic movement that German-speaking artists had founded in Vienna and Rome in the early 19th century.
A talented and industrious artist, Melchior Paul von Deschwanden produced some 2,000 paintings in his long life, including numerous altarpieces. These simple yet sublime paintings of religious themes as well as portraits. For some 40 years, Deschwanden remained Switzerland's leading painter.
