Aus Dorpat (Tartu) nach Italien und zurück. Über die Bildungsreise Woldemar Friedrich Krügers vermittelt durch die an Karl Eduard von Liphart von 1832 bis 1834 gesandten Briefe

The article accompanies the comments and publication of letters written by an Estonian artist Woldemar Friedrich Krüger to his friend Karl Eduard von Liphart, an art collector and expert from Munich between 1832–1834. The main intention of the author has been to provide the reader with the necessary short biography of the Woldemar Krüger and to contextualize the years in which the letters were written. Also the paper aims to open up some subjects and keywords that occur in the letters sent by Krüger to Liphart. The letters that are deposited in the Herder Institute Dokumentesammlung (DSHI) illustrate the early years in the lives of Krüger and Liphart when they both were in their twenties and only in the very beginning with their professional career. Artist Krüger, who was able to study and travel abroad only with the help of the Lipharts family, was especially interested in acquiring technical skills in lithography and encaustic (wax painting). The letters from Munich reveal us a very practically minded and careful personality as Krüger even hesitates before travelling to Italy being afraid that it could lead him away from his routine and practicing. Unfortunately, the letters do not prove whether Krüger attended any official and regular art course during his stay in Munich. However, the letters add valuable information about the developing years of both of the artist Woldemar Krüger and art connoisseur Karl Eduard von Liphart. The correspondence enables us to have a glance at the ideas and acquaintances that they shared and how studying abroad could look like in the 19th century

Franz Gerhard von Kügelgeni Georg Friedrich Parroti portree - ühe maali leidmis- ja rännakulugu: Portrait of Georg Friedrich Parrot by Franz Gerhard von Kügelgen - a story of its wanderings and discovery

The article focuses on a portrait of Georg Friedrich Parrot that hasbeen our main source about the appearance of the famous rectorand professor of physics. However, the portrait painted by the artistFranz Gerhard von Kügelgen was lost for the past 100 years until itreached the University of Tartu thanks to a lucky chance in 2016.Finding the painting initiated a research project to clarify and verifythe provenance and identity of the recovered piece of art.Initially, there were two versions of the same portrait. Thehypothesis that was proved during the research was that in 2016the University of Tartu acquired not the first version of the portraitpainted around 1803 but its replica painted in later years and commissionedby von Liphart. The replica (painting No. 2) was broughtto Germany in the late 19th century and travelled to the US afterWorld War II with the Zychlinski family who were also the last ownersof the painting.Technical research (X-ray, UV, IRR, microsampling etc.) that alsoinvolved five other paintings by Kügelgen proved that the portrait ofParrot has been painted in the early 19th century and features manysimilarities with other portraits by the same artist. The painting underwentconservation and was displayed with a new golden frameat the exhibition dedicated to the 250th birth anniversary of GeorgFriedrich Parrot in 2017

Kuidas taimed pildiks said? Teadusillustratsioonide publitseerimisest 19. sajandil Carl Friedrich von Ledebouri teose "Icones plantarum novarum" näitel: How did plants make their way into a picture? Publishing scientific illustrations using the example of the 19th Century "Icones plantarum novarum" by Carl Friedrich von Ledebour

The 1826–27 Altai expedition played a crucial role in the career ofUniversity of Tartu professor of botany C. F. v. Ledebour and its resultswere shown in travel journals and “Flora Altaica”—a systematicoverview of plant species. During the expedition, the scientistsdescribed 1600 plant species, including 500 new ones. In order to introducenew, previously unknown plant species, Ledebour consideredit necessary to print a separate series of illustrations: the “Iconesplantarum novarum”—an edition with 500 (sic!) colour plates.There had been previous attempts to depict Russia’s flora in illustrations(“Flora Rossica” by Paul Simon Pallas), yet those attemptsoften remained unfinished and the published illustrations numberedless than 100. Thus, Ledebour’s edition, with its 500 folio-sized bookplates, was an extremely grand project for its time. The budget forprinting the illustrations exceeded the costs of the entire expeditionseveral times over. The budget draft, still preserved in the archive,expressively demonstrated various stages of 19th century scientific illustrationpublishing as well as the largest expenses: the majority ofthe funds was spent on hand-colouring and drawing the illustrationson printing paper according to herbarium sheets. Sufficient fundingwas only provided thanks to the support of the Imperial power: theEmperor pre-ordered 75 black and white and 25 coloured, “deluxe”volumes of the entire edition.The 500 illustrations are accompanied by the names of six differentauthors: W. Krüger, E. Bommer, F. Scheffner, D. von der Pahlen,W. Müller, C. von Ungern Sternberg. In addition, there are a fewdozen anonymous pages, most likely drawn by A. Hagen. All of thoselisted above were, in some way or another, connected to the University of Tartu drawing school, and thus became involved with thatproject.Ledebour’s series of plates is set apart from its predecessors bythe choice of printing technique: the colour plates of “Icones plantarumnovarum” were made using lithography, which was faster andcheaper than earlier intaglio printing. Due to the fact that Tartu didnot have a lithography workshop at the time, the illustrations wereprinted in Munich. Illustrations of Altai plants, drawn in Tartu afterherbarium sheets, were lithographed—transferred to stone slabs—byWilhelm Siegrist, with the exception of just the last 5 pages that havePrestele’s name on them. Lithographic engraving, a special techniqueused by Siegrist, ensured that the resulting artwork boasted veryfine and precise lines.It is remarkable that such a resource and labour-intensive taskwas successfully completed as planned. “Icones plantarum novarum”was published in 10-page folios, 10 folios (100 plates) per year, with atotal of 500 plates published between 1829–34 (with the only exceptionbeing the years 1831–32, when 100 illustrations were publishedin two years). The final print number is unknown, as differentversions of the information are present in the archives. The artisticlevel of the final result is also significant: plant illustrations printedusing lithography (or lithographic engraving, to be precise) are verydetailed and clean, the coloured versions being especially charmingand easily deserving to be named among the most beautiful botanicalillustrations of the 19th century.Publishing such series of illustrations demanded great entrepreneurshipand various significant choices in process managementfrom the scientists involved. This might have been a great workload,but it was justified, as it was done in the name of promoting scientificdiscoveries. However, “Flora Rossica”, Ledebour’s scientific magnumopus, the first comprehensive overview of Russia’s flora, was publishedyears later merely in a 4-volume book series without a singleillustration

Morgenstern ja Liphart. Kahe kunstitähe tegutsemisest samas ajas ja ruumis: Morgenstern and Liphart. Encounters of Two Art Stars Sharing a Time and Space

What do we know about and how can we describe the encountersbetween Karl Morgenstern and the Lipharts, the Raadi lords of themanor, who were the greatest art collectors in 19th century Tartu/Dorpat?Published sources give the impression that Morgenstern and theLipharts had virtually no interaction, Morgenstern’s name does notappear very often in the biography of the Lipharts, and vice versa.In Morgenstern’s diaries, Raadi manor (Ratshof) appears as thedestination of his frequent walks, just like Kadriorg in Tallinn, butnothing more personal emerges from it. However, Morgenstern probablyknew which paintings belonged to the Lipharts, and some ofthem were of great interest to him. At least he published his opinionon two of the paintings by Johann Dominik von Fiorillo that belongedto the Lipharts’ art collection. The replica of the portrait of RectorParrot painted by F. G. von Kügelgen for R. W. von Liphart wasalso probably mediated by Morgenstern. There is some evidence thatMorgenstern and Liphart shared information about subscriptions forprints and art bulletins.What did the Lipharts think and know about the art collectedby Morgenstern, either for his private collection or the university?There is no written evidence of their opinions, no facts or stories ofthe Lipharts visiting Morgenstern’s art collection. Karl Eduard vonLiphart, who later became a great connoisseur of prints and Italianrenaissance art, may have used the possibility to train his eye lookingat prints at the University of Tartu Art Museum in his youth. However,this remains only a guess.During the lifetime of Karl Morgenstern, the university art museum’scollection was formed according to his personal tastes and ideas. It is intriguing that after Morgenstern’s death, the focus of the collection was shifted and the influence of the Lipharts became more prominent. In 1858 curator G. F. von Bradke formed a committee tore-evaluate the collections of the University of Tartu Art Museum,and K. E. von Liphart became the only external member of the body.Although he is more known for his marvellous prints, K. E. von Liphartalso collected plaster casts that filled his house at Lai Street30 in Tartu. Most probably his knowledge and ideas about this subjectalso influenced the committee’s final decision—collecting plastercasts of ancient art became the main focus of the university museum.The combination of antique sculpture and wall paintings fromPompeii had already been used in the interior of the Lipharts’ houselong before the Pompeian-style decoration was painted for the Universityof Tartu Art Museum in 1868. K. E. von Liphart’s special interestin photography, a state-of-the-art technology at that time, alsoleft its mark on the university’s collections. When Woldemar Krüger,who ran the university’s drawing school in the second half of the19th century, started commissioning photographic reproductions offamous artworks for instructional purposes, he relied mostly on theadvice and recommendations of his friend K. E. von Liphart.Thus, we may presume that even if there are not enough facts,it pays to search more closely for possible personal influences andimpact. Often, important changes may happen through local and intimatecontacts, not because of the twists and turns or grand ideas ofart history in general