CARSTENS, Asmus Jakob, Danish painter: b. Saint Jurgen, near Schleswig, 10 May 1754; d. 26 May 1798. He was a miller's son, but received a superior education from his mother. He had a youthful passion for paint ing, but after his mother's death was placed in a mercantile house. After quitting his master, he went to Copenhagen, where he struggled on for seven years, supporting himself by portrait painting, at the same time working on a large historical picture on the
relle and painting in fresco; he rarely painted in oil. His cartoons at Weimar have been en graved by Muller. Homer, Pindar, Aristo phanes and Dante supplied him with his best subjects; and among the painters who endeav ored to infuse a classic spirit into the fine arts of the 18th century, he holds a prominent posi tion. His works are distinguished by correct ness of form and outline, gracefulness of atti tude and loftiness and vigor of expression; but they frequently exhibit a certain harshness, arising from too close imitation. He was often defective in anatomy and perspective and, hav ing begun late to paint in oil, was unacquainted with the secrets of coloring. Consult Fr. Pauli,