Boomstudie

1819

His mother dies; his father marries her sister

In 1819 Carl's mother died, and the same year his father married her sister, Maria Krescence. His stepmother took great care of the boy and defended him against his strict father, who tried to forbid him to draw.

1 December 1828

Death of his father

Carl's father, Simon Spitzweg, died on 1 December 1828, in the last year of his son's pharmacy apprenticeship.

1832

First trip to Italy

In 1832 Spitzweg visited Italy for the first time.

1833

Gives up pharmacy for painting

In 1833, while taking the waters at Bad Sulz near Peißenberg after an illness, Spitzweg decided to devote himself entirely to painting; the share of his inheritance he received just then made the decision easier. He taught himself to paint by copying the Flemish masters (other accounts say the 17th-century Dutch masters in Munich's Alte Pinakothek).

1867

Recognition after the Paris World's Fair

At first Spitzweg's paintings found little favour with the public; the turning point came after the 1867 World's Fair in Paris, after which he became very popular.

23 september 1885

Died