DANNECKER, JOHANN HEIN ram YON ( 1758-18411. A German sculptor. born near Stuttgart, October 15. 1758. His father, a groom of the Duke of Wiirttemberg. was much opposed to his studying art, but through the favor of the Duke the lad was educated in the Karlssehule at Ludwigsburg, where he formed his life-long friendship with Schiller. He after wards studied sculpture under Le Jenne, and in 1780 he obtained the prize for the best model of "Milo of Croton Destroyed by the Lions." In 1783 he studied in Paris under l'ajou, and soon afterwards went to Rome, where he remained until 1790. At Rome he met Goethe, Herder, and Canova. The latter befriended him, and gave him instruction in sculpture. Here he executed his first marble statues. of "Ceres" and "Bac chus." On his return to Germany he was ap pointed professor of sculpture in the Academy of Stuttgart. and remained in that city until his death, on the Sth of December, 1841. Dannecker was undoubtedly one of the greatest of modern sculptors. His art is midway between that of Canova and Tho••aldsen, and his forte lies in expressing individual characteristics. This gives great value to hi]~ busts, among the best of which are those of Schiller at Weimar, of La vater in the Public Library of Zurich, and of the Kings Frederick and William of Wurttem berg. His perceptions of the beautiful and deli
cate, especially in the female form, are some times considered more exquisite and true than those of Canova himself. His earlier works are chiefly pagan in subjects, while his later ones are Christian, and arc pervaded by a sensitive idealism. Among the former are his "Sappho," "Psyche," and his best-known work, the "Ali adne," in Frankfort—a figure larger than life, reclining on the back of a panther. His chief work, however, is his statue of "Christ," com pleted in 1824, after eight years' study. The original statue is in a church in Moscow, but the sculptor executed a replica. which is now at Regensburg. Consult: Clement, Painters, Sculptors, Architects, and Engravers (Boston, 1889 ) ; Radcliffe, Schools and Masters of Sculpture (New York, 1394) ; Griineisen and Wagner, Danneeker's Werke in cincr A uswahl (Hamburg, 1841).