Meyer, Johann Heinrich

ART HISTORIAN, PAINTER, DECORATIVE ARTIST, ART COLLECTOR (SWITZERLAND)
BORN 16 Mar 1760, Stäfa am Züricher See - DIED 14 Oct 1832, Jena, Thüringen
GRAVE LOCATION Weimar, Thüringen: Historischer Friedhof, Poseckscher Garten (Eastern wall)

Johann Heinrich Meyer was the son of the marchant Johann Baptist Meyer from Zürich. He took draweing lessons with Johan Casper Füssli, the father of Johann Heinrich Füssli. He was influenced by the work of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. In 1784 he went to Rome, where he met Goethe in 1786.

In 1788 he went to Naples to work as a drawing master and there he befriended J.H.W. Tischbein. In Naples he also met Maria Amalia from Weimar as well as J.G. Herder. After he met Goethe again in Venice in 1790 he went to Weimar in 1791.

Until 1802 he lived in the house of Goethe. In 1795 he became a professor in Weimar. In 1802 he married Amalie von Koppenfels. First they lived in Jena, but they returned to Weimar. Between 1809 and 1815 he wrote a history of art and from 1824 to 1836 three volumes of art in Greece were published.


Amalie died in 1825. Meyer's close friendship with Goethe lasted until his death in 1832.

Related persons
• was a friend of Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von

Images

The grave of Johann Heinrich Meyer at the Friedhof vor dem Frauentor, Weimar.
Picture by Androom (01 Aug 2016)

 

Sources
• Dressler, Roland & Jochen Klauss, Weimarer Friedhöfe, Böhlau Verlag, Weimar, 1996
Heinrich Meyer (Maler) - Wikipedia


Meyer, Johanna

Published: 19 Nov 2017
Last update: 20 Apr 2022