Albert Küchler

Painter of the Danish Golden Age, Albert Küchler began to train with his father as a carpenter. He enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1816 and took private classes with Christoffer Wilhelm Eckesberg. He participated in the Academy’s competition and won a silver medal in 1821 and a gold medal in 1823. In 1829, Albert Küchler won the Great Gold Medal, which allowed him to go to Italy. In Rome, he was close to the Danish community. Küchler executed scenes of the local life and portraits, including one of Hans Christian Andersen. In Rome, Küchler also converted to Catholicism and entered the Franciscan order in 1851. Seven years later, he became a monk under the name of Fra Pietro. After three years in Silesia, he returned to Rome in the Saint Bonaventure monastery on mount Palatine and kept painting thanks to a papal permission. He became a member of the Royal Academy of Copenhagen in 1877. Influenced by the Renaissance inspired works of the Nazarene movement, Albert Küchler infused his own paintings with religious sentiment.