Education
From 1814 to 1821, he attended the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts where he studied under Caspar David Friedrich and Johan Christian Dahl, among others
From 1814 to 1821, he attended the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts where he studied under Caspar David Friedrich and Johan Christian Dahl, among others
Born in Dresden, Götzloff was the youngest of three children born to Friedrich Adrian Götzloff, a town constable. A scholarship enabled him to undertake a study trip throughout Germany and Switzerland, eventually travelling to Rome with fellow-student Anton Josef Dräger. From 1822 to 1824, several more trips to Italy and the surrounding regions followed.
Towards the end of that year, he accompanied Baron Karl Friedrich Emich von Üxküll-Gyllenband (1755–1832), an art collector, on a trip to Sicily and Malta.
Moving to Naples
As it turned out, the Baron and his family became Götzloff"s employers and he relocated permanently to Naples in 1825, where he shared an apartment with Antonie Sminck Pitloo, Giacinto Gigante and Teodoro Duclère. In 1835 he was appointed Court Painter to Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies.
In 1846, Friedrich Wilhelm IV appointed him the "Agent for Antiquities" for the museums of Berlin. His reputation had spread so far at this point that he began to receive commissions from the Royal Family in Russia.
Financial difficulties
He accompanied the 4th Bernese regiment during its conquest of Catania in April, 1849.
His hopes of returning to Germany were dashed in 1861, when several paintings he sent to an art exhibition in Dresden failed to be sold. He died poor in 1866 in Naples.
That same year, he was named an honorary member of the Dresden Academy.
