Background
He was born in Vienna and was court painter between 1835 and 1880. He was the son of the goldand silversmith Franz Amerling and Theresia Kargl.
He was born in Vienna and was court painter between 1835 and 1880. He was the son of the goldand silversmith Franz Amerling and Theresia Kargl.
He studied from 1815 to 1824 at the academy of the arts in Vienna, before journeying to Prague where he studied at the Academy until 1826. Further journeys led him to Paris, where he studied with Horace Vernet, and Rome. He then returned to Vienna, where after 1828 he worked for the Austrian court, the aristocracy and middle class.
With Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller he is one of the outstanding Austrian portrait painters of the 19th century. He spent 1827 and 1828 in London, where he was influenced by the portrait painter Sir Thomas Lawrence. Amerling spent much time traveling: in 1836 and 1838 to Italy, 1838 to the Netherlands, 1839 to Munich, 1840-1843 in Rome, 1882 in Spain, 1883 in England, 1884 in Greece, 1885 in Skandinavia up to Norway"s North Cape and 1886 to Egypt and Palestine.
In 1878 Amerling was elevated to the nobility and was called Friedrich Ritter von Amerling.
As one of the most outstanding artists of Vienna he received numerous important men of letters and musicians (such as Franz Liszt) at home. In 1858 he acquired the Gumpendorf castle in Vienna and equipped it after his taste with valuable art treasures.
The building was therefore called, in the vernacular, Amerlingschloessl.
Apart from numerous other honours, he received the Orden der Eisernen Krone in 1879. Upon his death in 1887, a street in Vienna was designated the Amerlingstrasse in his name. He was buried in the Viennese central cemetery, where he is commemorated with a monument designed by Johannes Benk. The same artist also created the Amerling monument in the Viennese city park, dedicated in 1902. In 1948 the Austrian post office issued a special stamp on the 60th anniversary of Friedrich von Amerling"s death. On 3 March 2008 the Österreichische Post issued another Amerling stamp. This time it was one of a series commemorating the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna and featured Princess Marie Franziska of Liechtenstein.
