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Friedrich Karl Wilhelm von Schlegel (1816)

Portrait of the writer, philosopher, poet, and literary critic Friedrich Karl Wilhelm von Schlegel (1772-1829), a leading representative of Early Romanticism. Together with his brother, August Wilhelm, Schlegel published the literary magazine Athenäum from 1789 to1800. The magazine served as a mouthpiece for the Early Romantic world-view and conception of art. In 1802, while lecturing on German literature and philosophy in Paris, Schlegel studied Sanskrit. His efforts resulted in Über die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier [On the Language and Wisdom of India]. Published in 1808, this seminal work formed the basis for the discipline of Indology and the comparative study of Indo-Germanic languages. After converting to Catholicism in 1808, Schlegel entered the Austrian civil service. He represented Austria in the negotiations at the Congress of Vienna and then as a councilor of legation in the Frankfurt Confederal Assembly from 1815 to 1818. Painting by Delphine de Custine (née Sabran), 1816.

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Friedrich Karl Wilhelm von Schlegel (1816)

© Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Original: Frankfurt am Main, Freies Deutsches Hochstift.