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Karl Ludwig Fernow (19 November 1763 – 4 December 1808) was a Germanart critic andarchaeologist.
Fernow was born inPomerania, the son of a servant in the household of the lord ofBlumenhagen. At the age of twelve he became clerk to anotary, and was afterwards apprenticed to adruggist. While serving his time he had the misfortune accidentally to shoot a young man who came to visit him; and although through the intercession of his master he escaped prosecution, the untoward event weighed heavily on his mind, and led him at the close of his apprenticeship to quit his native place.[1]
He obtained a situation atLübeck, where he had leisure to cultivate his natural taste for drawing and poetry. Having formed an acquaintance with the painterAsmus Jacob Carstens, whose influence was an important stimulus and help to him, he renounced his trade of druggist, and set up as a portrait-painter and drawing-master. AtLudwigslust he fell in love with a young girl, and followed her toWeimar; but failing in his suit, he went next toJena. There he was introduced to ProfessorReinhold, and in his house met theDanish poetJens Immanuel Baggesen. The latter invited him to accompany him toSwitzerland andItaly, a proposal which in 1794 he eagerly accepted for the sake of the opportunity of furthering his studies in the fine arts. On Baggesen's return to Denmark, Fernow, assisted by some of his friends, visitedRome and made some stay there. He now renewed his intercourse with Carstens, who had settled at Rome, and applied himself to the study of the history and theory of the fine arts and of the Italian language and literature.[1] Fernow's critiques and opinions have been questioned[by whom?] and poorly received due to his lack of formal qualification. His personal attacks on artists are thought[by whom?] to reflect his own lack of artistic talent and insight.[citation needed] Fernow self-proclaimed to have made rapid progress, he was soon semi-qualified to give a course of lectures on archaeology, which was attended by the principal artists then at Rome. Having married a Roman lady, he returned in 1802 to Germany, and was appointed in the following year professor extraordinary of Italian literature at Jena.[1]
In 1804, he accepted the post of librarian toAmalia, Dowager Duchess of Weimar, which gave him the leisure he desired for the purpose of turning to account the literary and archaeological researches in which he had engaged at Rome.[1] Fernow died in 1808 at Weimar, where he is buried in theJacobsfriedhof.
His most valuable work, theRomische Studien, appeared in 3 volumes between 1806 and 1808. Among his other works areDas Leben des Kunstlers Carstens (1806),Ariostos Lebenslauf (1809), andFrancesco Petrarca (1818).[1]
A memoir of his life byJohanna Schopenhauer, mother of the philosopher,Arthur Schopenhauer, appeared in 1810, and a complete edition of his works in 1829.[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fernow, Karl Ludwig".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 281.