Obituary – Christian Rauch

Christian Rauch, the greatest sculptor in Germany, the artist with grandiose ideas who could have made the gigantic dream of Dinocrates come true, has just died in Dresden, laden with years and glory.
setting out from the lower ranks of society, he rose, through hard work and genius, to the highest dignities. He was professor of sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and knight of the Order of the Prussian Red Eagle when death overtook him.
Rauch is an example of what patience and will can achieve, when combined with an irresistible vocation. He, whose work was to be the pride of his fellow citizens, was, as a result of the vicissitudes of fortune, employed for many years in a lawyer’s office. But the obstacles he met only increased his innate love for statuary. In the few moments that his job allowed him to spare, he threw himself with incomparable enthusiasm into his dear studies. Such dedication and hard work got him noticed, and influencial people took interest in him. Through them, the reigning king provided him with the means to fully indulge in his inclination. From then on, his future was settled.
In 1804, at the age of twenty-seven, he left Berlin for the homeland of the arts, to improve his talent. The sight of ancient masterpieces opened unknown horizons to him, and the impression they made on him became apparent even in his productions furthest from the tradition of Phidias. The germanic imagination of the young sculptor soon caught fire under the strong latin sun, and a few days was all it took, for him to display to the Roman public the wonderful bas-relief of Phaedra and Hippolytus, prelude to a series of works which reveal an audacious and elevated style, full of grace, naturalness and distinction.
 
Extract from L’Illustration, N° 774 on 26 December 1857.