Background
Hans von Marées was born into a banking family on December 24, 1837, in Elberfeld, Germany.
Hans von Marées was born into a banking family on December 24, 1837, in Elberfeld, Germany.
He was educated at the Gymnasium (grammar school). From 1853 to 1855 he studied at the Berlin Academy, and in 1854 he entered the studio of the painter and printmaker Carl Steffeck.
He lived in Italy and found in the Italian masters inspiration for formal compositions in a monumental style. Almost unknown during his lifetime, Marées was acclaimed by 1900 as the greatest German artist of the 19th century. His main works are murals in the Zoological Station, Naples (1873), The Ages of Man (1877 - 1878, Berlin), and The Hesperides (1884 - 1887).
Although ambitious, Marées lacked self-confidence and, in the latter part of his life, ceased to exhibit his work.