l fetters, entered Rome as
freemen in 1810. A year later Cornelius, as a young Hercules, came upon
the scene; he had fought his way from Dusseldorf; like Overbeck, he had
found the Academy a burden and a snare, and he betook himself to Italy
for deliverance. Then began that closest friendship between the two
painters which, lasting for more than half a century, was severed only
by death. Cornelius, writing to his friend Mosler, describes the German
Brotherhood in Rome, and adds: "Overbeck from Lubeck is the one who by
the gentleness and nobility of his soul draws all around him; he
inspires them to everything true and beautiful. May be he is the
greatest artist now living: you would be astonished if you could see him
at his work. Yet he is the most humble and retiring of men." If Overbeck
were as a lamb, surely Cornelius was a lion, each indeed supplied what
was lacking in the other. Cornelius in after years said to Rudolf
Lehmann, "I am the man, he is the woman." And it may strike the mind as
a singular coincidence, or rather as a benignant disposition of
Providence, that at sundry turning-points in the world's history, two
men the opposites the one of the other have been conjoined, as if for
the better accomplishment of the work to be done. We may recall, in art,
Raphael and Michelangelo; in religion, St. John and St. Peter,
Melanchthon and Luther; and in philosophy, Plato and Aristotle. At the
risk of pushing the analogy too far, it may be added that Cornelius was
positive as Aristotle, impetuous as St. Peter and Luther, defiant as
Michelangelo; while in contrast, Overbeck shared with Plato idealism,
with St. John love, with Melanchthon gentleness, and with Raphael grace.

The German colony of pre-Raphaelite painters in Rome grew, and in after
years came accessions almost unintermittingly.[1] Within the first
twelve months were gathered together, as we have seen, Overbeck,
Cornelius, Pforr, Vogel and Hottinger. Soon followed the brothers
Wilhelm and Rudolf Schadow: to these must be added Koch, Wintergerst,
Sutter, Mosler, Veit, Schnorr, Eggers, Platner, and others. Later came
Joseph Fuhrich, who literally worshipped the ground on which Overbeck
stood. Edward Steinle, of a younger generation, was also a bosom friend
of the painter. Later still arrived young zealots from Dusseldorf, where
Schadow had established the renowned school of religious art. The best
known of these disciples are Ernst Deger, Franz Ittenbach, and