Ferdinand Pettrich

Summary

Friedrich August Ferdinand Pettrich (1798 – 14 February 1872) was a German sculptor active in Germany, Brazil, the United States, and Italy. He was an internationally famous portrait sculptor who created busts of political figures in Washington D.C. as well as Native Americans such as Tecumseh. In the early 1840s he moved to Brazil to become the Court Sculptor to Emperor Dom Pedro II.[1]

Friedrich August Ferdinand Pettrich
Portrait of Pettrich by Herman Wilhelm Bissen
Born1798 (1798)
DiedFebruary 14, 1872(1872-02-14) (aged 73–74)
NationalityGerman
Known forSculpture
Washington Resigning His Commission, ca. 1841, now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Life edit

Born in Dresden to sculptor Franz Pettrich, court sculptor to Elector Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, Pettrich studied in Rome under Bertel Thorvaldsen. After achieving fame in Europe,[2] in 1835 Pettrich and his wife moved to the United States, first in Philadelphia, then Washington, D.C.[3] Pettrich died in Rome in 1872.

Sculptures by Pettrich edit

 
 
The Dying Tecumseh

See also edit

  • Vatican biography
  • vatican-patrons.org page
  • Biography page at fada.com
  • Biography listing at Smithsonian American Art Museum
  • Note in 1892 Corcoran Gallery of Art catalog

References edit

  1. ^ Chamberlain,Georgia Stamm. Studies on American Painters and Sculptors of the Nineteenth Century. Robert Chamberlain/ Turnpike Press; 1st Edition, 1965. Hardcover.
  2. ^ "Ferdinando Pettrich (1798-1872)". Vatican Museums.
  3. ^ "Ferdinand Pettrich". Fine Art Dealers Association.