CHODOWIECKI, DANIEL NICOLAS German genre painter and engraver of Polish descent, was born at Danzig on Oct. 13 1726, and died at Berlin on Feb. 7 180i. Left an orphan at an early age, he devoted himself to the practice of miniature painting, the elements of which his father had taught him, as a means of support for himself and his mother. From 1754 onwards he studied drawing and painting under Bern hard Rode, and began engraving in 1758. After designing and engraving several subjects from the story of the Seven Years' War, Chodowiecki produced the famous "History of the Life of Jesus Christ," a set of admirably painted miniatures, which made him at once so popular that he laid aside all occupations save those of painting and engraving. Few books were published in Prussia for some years without plate or vignette by Chodowiecki. It is not surprising, therefore, that the catalogue of his works (Berlin, 1814) should include over 3,00o items, the most famous being the picture of "Jean Calas and his Family." He became director of the Berlin Academy in 1797. The title of the German Hogarth was disclaimed by Chodowiecki himself. The illustrator of Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy, the painter of the "Hunt the Slipper" in the Berlin Museum, had indeed but one point in common with the great Englishman—the practice of representing actual life and manners.
His brother GOTTFRIED (1728-1781) and son WILHELM (1765 1803) painted and engraved after the style of Daniel, and some times co-operated with him. See Von Oettingen, Daniel Chodo wiecki (1895).