Sulamith und Maria

At the center of this study are two major works of Nazarene art: Franz Pforr's "Sulamith and Maria" and Friedrich Overbeck's "Two Brides" (later "Italia and Germania"). Through a critical reading of written testimonies from both painters as well as other sources, the author succeeds in deciphering the encoded messages within the paintings and demonstrating that both works reference real personal relationships and events. These trace back to the founding period of the Lukasbund around 1809, when Overbeck fell in love with one of the two daughters of the silk merchant and businessman Johannes Hottinger, who was active in Vienna, and whose son Konrad was also a member of the association. In Rome, where Pforr and Overbeck moved in 1810 and worked together with other artists at the San Isidoro monastery, Pforr - as one of the central theses of the author suggests - obscured Overbeck's.