Carl Julius Senff (1804–1832) – ein Kurzes Künstlerleben als Architekt, Zeichner und Grafiker

Abstract

Carl Julius Senff was a talented artist with wide-ranging knowledge of art and architecture, who first received art lessons from his father Carl August Senff in Tartu. From 1823 to 1827, Carl Julius Senff studied philosophy at the University of Tartu and illustrated several publications while still a student. For example, in 1825 he published a textbook on perspective called Perspective für Landschaftsmaler zum Selbststudium.

Although Carl Julius Senff’s life was cut short, he was still able to travel extensively. In 1829, he travelled to Jena for three years where he acquired a doctoral degree in philosophy. His earliest drawings also date from this period and, based on them, we can also partially reconstruct the route of his travels. From Jena, he travelled to Prague, Vienna and Munich. In 1831, he travelled to Italy where he lived in Rome. The young artist and scholar was destined to become the new professor of architecture at the University of Tartu but, unfortunately, Carl Julius Senff fell ill during his last trip and died in Milan.

The article is based to a great degree on unpublished archival documents as well as the personal correspondence of Carl Julius Senff and his father Carl August Senff.