Ernst Stückelberg (painter)

Ernst Stückelberg (baptized Johann Melchior Ernst Stickelberger, 21 February 1831 – 14 September 1903) was a Swiss painter native to Basel, born to a family that traced its connection to the city back to the 14th century. He died of complications of diabetes.

He was one of the most popular artists of his generation, of the romantic tradition, producing many paintings of various themes (portraits, country and village scenes, and allusions to history), including a series on the Swiss national hero William Tell. He formally took the name Stückelberg in 1881; this was duly registered by the Basel authorities.

Stückelberg came from an aristocratic Basel family, son of Emanuel Stickelberger and Susanna Berry. Following the early death of his father in 1833, he was brought up by his uncle, the architect Melchior Berry, to whom he was apprenticed. His leanings were towards art, having had formative school instruction under Hieronymus Hess and Ludwig Adam Kelterborn. So, after six months with his uncle, encouraged by Jacob Burckhardt, his mother's brother-in-law, he started studies with the portrait painter Johann Friedrich Dietler in Bern, continuing till 1850. He then was sent for academic training in Antwerp at the Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp. His teachers in Antwerp included Gustaf Wappers, Louis Gallait and Josephus Laurentius Dyckmans. This period of study was intensive but Stückelberg made contact with an international array of enthusiasts: Hendrik Valkenberg from Amsterdam, Ernst Rietschel from Dresden, Knud Bergslien from Voss, Norway, Hans Peter Feddersen from Holstein, as well as Ludwig Burger from Berlin, Moritz Delfs from Holstein, and Theodor von Deschwanden from Stans whose portraits he painted (1852). From this period, a total of 44 aquarel portraits exist, and numerous sketch books; in his second year, 1851, Stückelberg won first prize in the "Concours". One early painting of this time, Elijah brings the widow of Zarepath her resuscitated child (1852), is notable for its vivacity.

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