Nazarene at last!

Philipp Veit lived in Rome from 1815 to 1830, where he joined the Nazarene group of artists. This group had taken the old German and Italian painting of the time before Raphael as a model. The aim of this Romantic movement was the renewal of art based on Christian values. In addition to religious painting and drawing, self-portraits also played a major role in their circle

Shortly after his arrival in Rome, the 23-year-old artist painted two portraits of himself. However, only our painting has survived; the other was burnt in the Munich Glass Palace in 1931.

For Veit, joining the Nazarene group was a major new beginning. He thus painted this self-portrait at an important biographical and artistic turning point for him. The tight framing, which concentrates on the face, heightens the intensity of this self-interrogation.