not long work up these new thoughts without an infinite desire arising
within me to see important works of art, once and away, in great number.
I therefore determined to visit Dresden without delay. I was not in want
of the necessary cash: but there were other difficulties to overcome,
which I needlessly increased still further, through my whimsical
disposition; for I kept my purpose a secret from every one, because I
wished to contemplate the treasures of art there quite after my own way,
and, as I thought, to allow no one to perplex me. Besides this, so
simple a matter became more complicated by still another eccentricity.
We have weaknesses, both by birth and by education; and it may be
questioned which of the two gives us the most trouble. Willingly as I
made myself familiar with all sorts of conditions, and many as had been
my inducements to do so, an excessive aversion from all inns had
nevertheless been instilled into me by my father. This feeling had taken
firm root in him on his travels through Italy, France, and Germany.
Although he seldom spoke in images, and only called them to his aid when
he was very cheerful, yet he used often to repeat that he always fancied
he saw a great cobweb spun across the gate of an inn, so ingeniously
that the insects could indeed fly in, but that even the privileged wasps
could not fly out again unplucked. It seemed to him something horrible
that one should be obliged to pay immoderately for renouncing one's
habits and all that was dear to one in life, and living after the manner
of publicans and waiters. He praised the hospitality of the olden time;
and, reluctantly as he otherwise endured even any thing unusual in the
house, he yet practised hospitality, especially towards artists and
virtuosi. Thus gossip Seekatz always had his quarters with us; and Abel,
the last musician who handled the /viol di gamba/ with success and
applause, was well received and entertained. With such youthful
impressions, which nothing had as yet rubbed off, how could I have
resolved to set foot in an inn in a strange city? Nothing would have
been easier than to find quarters with good friends. Hofrath Krebel,
Assessor Hermann, and others, had often spoken to me about it already;
but even to these my trip was to remain a secret, and I hit upon a most
singular notion. My next-room neighbor, the industrious theologian,
whose eyes unfortunately constantly grew weaker and weaker, had a
relation in Dresden, a shoemaker, with whom from time to time he
corresponded. For a long while already this man had been highly
remarkable to me on account of his expressions, and the arrival of one
of his letters was always celebrated by us as a holiday. The mode in
which he replied to the complaints of his cousin, who feared blindness,
was quite peculiar: for he did not trouble himself about grounds of
consolation, which are always hard to find; but the cheerful way in
which he looked upon his own narrow, poor, toilsome life, the merriment
which he drew, even from evils and inconveniences, the indestructible
conviction that life is in itself and on its own account a blessing,
communicated itself to him who read the letter, and, for the moment at
least, transposed him into a like mood. Enthusiastic as I was, I had
often sent my compliments to this man, extolled his happy natural gift,
and expressed the wish to become acquainted with him. All this being
premised, nothing seemed to me more natural than to seek him out, to
converse with him,--nay, to lodge with him, and to learn to know him
intimately. My good candidate, after some opposition, gave me a letter,
written with difficulty, to carry with me; and, full of longing, I went
to Dresden in the yellow coach, with my matriculation in my pocket.
I went in search of my shoemaker, and soon found him in the suburb
(/Vorstadt/). He received me in a friendly manner, sitting upon his
stool, and said, smiling, after he had read the letter, "I see from
this, young sir, that you are a whimsical Christian."--"How so, master?"
I replied. "No offence meant by '/whimsical/,'" he continued: "one
calls every one so who is not consistent with himself; and I call you a
whimsical Christian because you acknowledge yourself a follower of our
Lord in one thing, but not in another." On my requesting him to
enlighten me, he said further, "It seems that your view is, to announce
glad tidings to the poor and lowly; that is good, and this imitation of
the Lord is praiseworthy: but you should reflect, besides, that he
rather sat down to table with prosperous rich folks, where there was
good fare, and that he himself did not despise the sweet scent of the
ointment, of which you will find the opposite in my house."
This pleasant beginning put me at once in good humor, and we rallied
each other for some time. His wife stood doubting how she should board
and lodge such a guest. On this point, too, he had notions which
referred, not only to the Bible, but also to "Gottfried's Chronicle;"
and when we were agreed that I was to stay, I gave my purse, such as it
was, into the charge of my hostess, and requested her to furnish herself
from it, if any thing should be necessary. When he would have declined
it, and somewhat waggishly gave me to understand that he was not so
burned out as he might appear, I disarmed him by saying, "Even if it
were only to change water into wine, such a well-tried domestic resource
would not be out of place, since there are no more miracles nowadays."
The hostess seemed to find my conduct less and less strange: we had soon
accommodated ourselves to each other, and spent a very merry evening. He
remained always the same, because all flowed from one source. His
peculiarity was an apt common sense, which rested upon a cheerful
disposition, and took delight in uniform habitual activity. That he
should labor incessantly was his first and most necessary care; that he
regarded every thing else as secondary,--this kept up his comfortable
state of mind; and I must reckon him before many others in the class of
those who are called practical unconscious philosophers. [Footnote:
"Pratische Philosophen, bewusstlose Weltweisen." It is impossible to
give two substantives, as in the original, since this is effected by
using first the word of Greek, then the word of German origin, whereas
we have but one.--TRANS.]
The hour when the gallery was to be opened appeared, after having been
expected with impatience. I entered into this sanctuary, and my
astonishment surpassed every conception which I had formed. This room,
returning into itself, in which splendor and neatness reigned together
with the deepest stillness; the dazzling frames, all nearer to the time
in which they had been gilded; the floor polished with bees'-wax; the
spaces more trodden by spectators than used by copyists,--imparted a
feeling of solemnity, unique of its kind, which so much the more
resembled the sensation with which one treads a church, as the
adornments of so many a temple, the objects of so much adoration, seemed
here again set up only for the sacred purposes of art. I readily put up
with the cursory description of my guide, only I requested that I might
be allowed to remain in the outer gallery. Here, to my comfort, I felt
really at home. I had already seen the works of several artists, others
I knew from engravings, others by name. I did not conceal this, and I
thus inspired my conductor with some confidence: nay, the rapture which
I expressed at pieces where the pencil had gained the victory over
nature delighted him; for such were the things which principally
attracted me, where the comparison with known nature must necessarily
enhance the value of art.
When I again entered my shoemaker's house for dinner, I scarcely
believed my eyes; for I fancied I saw before me a picture by Ostade, so
perfect that all it needed was to be hung up in the gallery. The
position of the objects, the light, the shadow, the brownish tint of the
whole, the magical harmony,--every thing that one admires in those
pictures, I here saw in reality. It was the first time that I perceived,
in so high a degree, the faculty which I afterwards exercised with more
consciousness; namely, that of seeing nature with the eyes of this or
that artist, to whose works I had devoted a particular attention. This
faculty has afforded me much enjoyment, but has also increased the
desire zealously to abandon myself, from time to time, to the exercise
of a talent which nature seemed to have denied me.
I visited the gallery at all permitted hours, and continued to express
too loudly the ecstasy with which I beheld many precious works. I thus
frustrated my laudable purpose of remaining unknown and unnoticed; and
whereas only one of the unclerkeepers had hitherto had intercourse with
me, the gallery-inspector, Counsellor Riedel, now also took notice of
me, and called my attention to many things which seemed chiefly to lie
within my sphere. I found this excellent man just as active and obliging
then, as when I afterwards saw him during many years, and as he shows
himself to this day. His image has, for me, interwoven itself so closely
with those treasures of art, that I can never regard the two apart: the
remembrance of him has even accompanied me to Italy, where, in many
large and rich collections, his presence would have been very desirable.
Since, even with strangers and unknown persons, one cannot gaze on such
works silently and without mutual sympathy,--nay, since the first sight
of them is rather adapted, in the highest degree, to open hearts towards
each other, I there got into conversation with a young man who seemed to
be residing at Dresden, and to belong to some embassy. He invited me to
come in the evening to an inn where a lively company met, and where, by
each one's paying a moderate reckoning, one could pass some very
pleasant hours.
I repaired thither, but did not find the company; and the waiter
somewhat surprised me when he delivered the compliments of the gentleman
who made the appointment with me, by which the latter sent an excuse for
coming somewhat later, with the addition that I must not take offence at
any thing that might occur; also, that I should have nothing to pay
beyond my own score. I knew not what to make of these words: my father's
cobwebs came into my head, and I composed myself to await whatever might
befall. The company assembled; my acquaintance introduced me; and I
could not be attentive long, without discovering that they were aiming
at the mystification of a young man, who showed himself a novice by an
obstreperous, assuming deportment: I therefore kept very much on my
guard, so that they might not find delight in selecting me as his
fellow. At table this intention became more apparent to everybody,
except to himself. They drank more and more deeply: and, when a vivat in
honor of sweethearts was started, every one solemnly swore that there
should never be another out of those glasses; they flung them behind
them, and this was the signal for far greater follies. At last I
withdrew very quietly; and the waiter, while demanding quite a moderate
amount, requested me to come again, as they did not go on so wildly
every evening. I was far from my lodgings, and it was near midnight when
I reached them. I found the doors unlocked; everybody was in bed; and
one lamp illuminated the narrow domestic household, where my eye, more
and more practised, immediately perceived the finest picture by
Schalken, from which I could not tear myself away, so that it banished
from me all sleep.
The few days of my residence in Dresden were solely devoted to the
picture-gallery. The antiquities still stood in the pavilion of the
great garden; but I declined seeing them, as well as all the other
precious things which Dresden contained, being but too full of the
conviction, that, even in and about the collection of paintings, much
must yet remain hidden from me. Thus I took the excellence of the
Italian masters more on trust and in faith, than by pretending to any
insight into them. What I could not look upon as nature, put in the
place of nature, and compare with a known object, was without effect
upon me. It is the material impression which makes the beginning even to
every more elevated taste.
With my shoemaker I lived on very good terms. He was witty and varied
enough, and we often outvied each other in merry conceits: nevertheless,
a man who thinks himself happy, and desires others to do the same, makes
us discontented; indeed, the repetition of such sentiments produces
weariness. I found myself well occupied, entertained, excited, but by no
means happy; and the shoes from his last would not fit me. We parted,
however, as the best friends; and even my hostess, on my departure, was
not dissatisfied with me.
Shortly before my departure, something else very pleasant was to happen.
By the mediation of that young man, who wished to somewhat regain his
credit with me, I was introduced to the Director Von Hagedorn, who, with
great kindness, showed me his collection, and was highly delighted with
the enthusiasm of the young lover of art. He himself, as becomes a
connoisseur, was quite peculiarly in love with the pictures which he
possessed, and therefore seldom found in others an interest such as he
wished. It gave him particular satisfaction that I was so excessively
pleased with a picture by Schwanefeld, and that I was not tired of
praising and extolling it in every single part; for landscapes, which
again reminded me of the beautiful clear sky under which I had grown up,
of the vegetable luxuriance of those spots, and of whatever other favors
a warmer climate offers to man, were just the things that most affected
me in the imitation, while they awakened in me a longing remembrance.
These delightful experiences, preparing both mind and sense for true
art, were nevertheless interrupted and damped by one of the most
melancholy sights,--by the destroyed and desolate condition of so many
of the streets of Dresden through which I took my way. The Mohrenstrasse
in ruins, and the Church (/Kreuzkirche/) of the Cross, with its
shattered tower, impressed themselves deeply upon me, and still stand
like a gloomy spot in my imagination. From the cupola of the Lady Church
(/Frauenkirche/) I saw these pitiable ruins scattered about amid
the beautiful order of the city. Here the clerk commended to me the art
of the architect, who had already fitted up church and cupola for so
undesirable an event, and had built them bomb-proof. The good sacristan
then pointed out to me the ruins on all sides, and said doubtfully and
laconically, "/The enemy hath done this/!"
At last, though very loath, I returned to Leipzig, and found my friends,
who were not used to such digressions in me, in great astonishment,
busied with all sorts of conjectures as to what might be the import of
my mysterious journey. When, upon this, I told them my story quite in
order, they declared it was only a made-up tale, and sagaciously tried
to get at the bottom of the riddle which I had been waggish enough to
conceal under my shoemaker-lodgings.
But, could they have looked into my heart, they would have discovered no
waggery there; for the truth of that old proverb, "He that increaseth
knowledge increaseth sorrow," had struck me with all its force: and the
more I struggled to arrange and appropriate to myself what I had seen,
the less I succeeded. I had at last to content myself with a silent
after-operation. Ordinary life carried me away again; and I at last felt
myself quite comfortable when a friendly intercourse, improvement in
branches of knowledge which were suitable for me, and a certain practice
of the hand, engaged me in a manner less important, but more in
accordance with my strength.
Very pleasant and wholesome for me was the connection I formed with the
Breitkopf family. Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, the proper founder of
the family, who had come to Leipzig as a poor journeyman printer, was
yet living, and occupied the Golden Bear, a respectable house in the new
Newmarket, with Gottsched as an inmate. The son, Johann Gottlob
Immanuel, had already been long married, and was the father of many
children. They thought they could not spend a part of their considerable
wealth better than in putting up, opposite the first house, a large new
one, the Silver Bear, which they built higher and more extensive than
the original house itself. Just at the time of the building I became
acquainted with the family. The eldest son, who might have been some
years older than I, was a well-formed young man, devoted to music, and
practised to play skilfully on both the piano and the violin. The
second, a true, good soul, likewise musical, enlivened the concerts
which were often got up, no less than his elder brother. They were both
kindly disposed towards me, as well as their parents and sisters. I lent
them a helping hand during the building up and the finishing, the
furnishing and the moving in, and thus formed a conception of much that
belongs to such an affair: I also had an opportunity of seeing Oeser's
instructions put in practice. In the new house, which I had thus seen
erected, I was often a visitor. We had many pursuits in common; and the
eldest son set some of my songs to music, which, when printed, bore his
name, but not mine, and have been little known. I have selected the
best, and inserted them among my other little poems. The father had
invented or perfected musical type. He granted me the use of a fine
library, which related principally to the origin and progress of
printing; and thus I gained some knowledge in that department. I found
there, moreover, good copper-plates, which exhibited antiquity, and
advanced on this side also my studies, which were still further promoted
by the circumstance that a considerable collection of casts had fallen
into disorder in moving. I set them right again as well as I could, and
in doing so was compelled to search Lippert and other authorities. A
physician, Doctor Reichel, likewise an inmate of the house, I consulted
from time to time when I felt, if not sick, yet unwell; and thus we led
together a quiet, pleasant life.
I was now to enter into another sort of connection in this house; for
the copper-plate engraver, Stock, had moved into the attic. He was a
native of Nuremberg, a very industrious man, and, in his labors, precise
and methodical. He also, like Geyser, engraved, after Oeser's designs,
larger and smaller plates, which came more and more into vogue for
novels and poems. He etched very neatly, so that his work came out of
the aquafortis almost finished; and but little touching-up remained to
be done with the graver, which he handled very well. He made an exact
calculation how long a plate would occupy him, and nothing could call
him off from his work if he had not completed the daily task he had set
himself. Thus he sat working by a broad table, by the great gable-
window, in a very neat and orderly chamber, where his wife and two
daughters afforded him a domestic society. Of these last, one is happily
married, and the other is an excellent artist: they have continued my
friends all my life long. I now divided my time between the upper and
lower stories, and attached myself much to the man, who, together with
his persevering industry, possessed an excellent humor, and was good
nature itself.
The technical neatness of this branch of art charmed me, and I
associated myself with him to execute something of the kind. My
predilection was again directed towards landscape, which, while it
amused me in my solitary walks, seemed in itself more attainable and
more comprehensible for works of art than the human figure, which
discouraged me. Under his directions, therefore, I etched, after Thiele
and others, various landscapes, which, although executed by an
unpractised hand, produced some effect, and were well received. The
grounding (varnishing) of the plates, the putting in the high lights,
the etching, and at last the biting with aquafortis, gave me variety of
occupation; and I soon got so far that I could assist my master in many
things. I did not lack the attention necessary for the biting, and I
seldom failed in any thing; but I had not care enough in guarding
against the deleterious vapors which are generated on such occasions,
and these may have contributed to the maladies which afterwards troubled
me for a long time. Amidst such labors, lest any thing should be left
untried, I often made wood-cuts also. I prepared various little
printing-blocks after French patterns, and many of them were found fit
for use.
Let me here make mention of some other men who resided in Leipzig, or
tarried there for a short time. Weisse, the custom-house collector of
the district, in his best years, cheerful, friendly, and obliging, was
loved and esteemed by us. We would not, indeed, allow his theatrical
pieces to be models throughout, but we suffered ourselves to be carried
away by them; and his operas, set to music by Hiller in an easy style,
gave us much pleasure. Schiebler, of Hamburgh, pursued the same track;
and his "Lisuard and Dariolette" was likewise favored by us. Eschenburg,
a handsome young man, but little older than we were, distinguished
himself advantageously among the students. Zachariä was pleased to spend
some weeks with us, and, being introduced by his brother, dined every
day with us at the same table. We rightly deemed it an honor to gratify
our guest in return, by a, few extra dishes, a richer dessert, and
choicer wine; for, as a tall, well-formed, comfortable man, he did not
conceal his love of good eating. Lessing came at a time when we had I
know not what in our heads: it was our good pleasure to go nowhere on
his account,--nay, even to avoid the places to which he came, probably
because we thought ourselves too good to stand at a distance, and could
make no pretension to obtain a closer intimacy with him. This momentary
absurdity, which, however, is nothing rare in presuming and freakish
youth, proved, indeed, its own punishment in the sequel; for I have
never set eyes on that eminent man, who was most highly esteemed by me.
Notwithstanding all our efforts relative to art and antiquity, we each
of us always had Winckelmann before our eyes, whose ability was
acknowledged in his country with enthusiasm. We read his writings
diligently, and tried to make ourselves acquainted with the
circumstances under which he had written the first of them. We found in
them many views which seemed to have originated with Oeser, even jests
and whims after his fashion: and we did not rest until we had formed
some general conception of the occasion on which these remarkable and
sometimes so enigmatical writings had arisen, though we were not very
accurate; for youth likes better to be excited than instructed, and it
was not the last time that I was to be indebted to Sibylline leaves for
an important step in cultivation.