(b Arolsen, Waldeck [now Hessen], 8 July 1822; d Hannover, 17 Sept 1903). Painter, cousin of (1) Wilhelm von Kaulbach. From the age of 14 he began to execute portraits and flower paintings. In 1839 he studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich under Wilhelm von Kaulbach. After a visit to Venice in 1844, he broke away from his teacher and eventually painted his first independent history painting, Adam and Eve by Cain’s Body (1848; Leipzig, Mus. Bild. Kst.), as a result of which he was offered a professorship at the Akademie in Munich, although he did not take up the position. In 1850 he made his first trip to Paris, where he executed further history paintings, as well as commissions for portraits. In 1850 Maximilian II of Bavaria (reg 1848–64) commissioned him to paint the Coronation of Charlemagne for the Maximilaneum in Munich (in situ). In 1856 Kaulbach was summoned to Hannover by George V (reg 1851–66), whose portrait he painted several times (e.g. Blind King George V, c. 1866; Hannover, Niedersächs. Landesmus.). He was later appointed court painter and Professor at the Technische Hochschule, where, in 1862, he began his major work, Juliet Capulet’s Wedding Morning (Hannover, Niedersächs. Landesmus.), which was not completed until 1903. His history paintings are exceptional because of the detailed manner in which they are painted, and they contain figures carefully drawn from individual studies. However, in accord with prevailing taste, a theatrical effect is often present. His portraits, such as that of the sculptor Elisabeth Nay (1860; Hannover, Niedersächs. Landesmus.), are striking because of the empathy he establishes with his sitter and the soft, yet at times precisely detailed, manner in which they are painted.

Part of the Kaulbach family

• Kaulbach, Friedrich
  • Kaulbach
  • Munich, §II, 2: Art life and organization, c 1799 and after