Alexandre de Humboldt

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was a Prussian polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer  and influential proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835).Humboldt's quantitative work on botanical geography laid the foundation for the field of biogeography. Humboldt's advocacy of long-term systematic geophysical measurement laid the foundation for modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring.

Humboldt was almost as distinguished looking as his remarkable achievements. This lithograph, made by Demanne of Paris, is based on a portrait of Humboldt by the Franco-German artist Charles Auguste Guillaume de Steiben (also known as Carl von Steuben), dating from 1815, when Humboldt was in his mid-forties. The fact that it was printed in Paris for a French-speaking audience testifies to Humboldt's international fame. 

The friendship between artist and sitter is fascinating. Steuben (1788-1756) was a generation younger than Humboldt. While working in a Parisian studio, probably that of his teacher François Gérard, Steuben first met Humboldt, who went on to encourage the efforts of the Steuben family to establish themselves artistically and economically: in long letters Humboldt repeatedly asked for support for Steuben, soliciting artistic jobs for him, including from the Prussian Minister Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein and Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Steuben went on to enjoy a flourishing career as a Romantic artist - and a close friendship with Delacroix, though his art can be somewhat too histrionic for more modern tastes to admire.

See:

Wikipedia, 'Alexander Humboldt', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_von_Humboldt

Wikipedia, 'Charles de Steuben', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Steuben

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art