The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (420 page)

(1777–1810).
German painter and draughtsman. Although he made a late start to his career and died young, he ranks second only to
Friedrich
among German
Romantic
artists. He studied under Jens
Juel
at the Copenhagen Academy (1799–1801), then moved to Dresden, where he knew Friedrich. In 1803 he settled in Hamburg. Runge was of a mystical, pantheistic turn of mind and in his work he tried to express notions of the harmony of the universe through symbolism of colour, form, and numbers. To this end he planned a series of four paintings called
The Times of the Day
, designed to be seen in a special building and viewed to the accompaniment of music and poetry. He painted two versions of
Morning
(Kunsthalle, Hamburg, 1808 and 1809), but the others did not advance beyond drawings. Runge was also one of the best German portraitists of his period; several examples are in Hamburg. His style was rigid, sharp, and intense, at times almost
naïve
. In 1810 he published
Die Farbenkugel
(The Colour Sphere) after doing several years of research on colour, during which he corresponded with
Goethe
.

 
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(1629–93).
Neapolitan still-life painter. He specialized in pictures of flowers and food (especially fruit and seafood), depicted in an exuberant and succulent style. With
Recco
he was the finest Italian still-life painter of his period.

 
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(1619–82).
Bohemianborn soldier and amateur artist. Famous as a dashing cavalry commander for his uncle Charles I in the English Civil War, he was also an active dilettante of science and the arts. He was an amateur etcher and introduced to England
mezzotint
engraving, which he may have learnt from Ludwig von
Siegen
(Rupert was himself long credited as the inventor). He demonstrated the technique to the diarist John Evelyn, who publicized it in his book
Sculptura
(1662) under the auspices of the Royal Society.

 
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Ruralists , Brotherhood of
.

See
BLAKE , PETER
.

 
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(1658–1728).
Italian sculptor. He was the outstanding sculptor in Rome during his period, a figure comparable to his friend
Maratta
in painting. The vigour and boldness of his style derive from
Bernini
, but Rusconi was more restrained and classical. His most important works are four over life-size statues of Apostles in S. Giovanni in Laterano (1708–18) and the tomb of Pope Gregory XIII (1719–25) in St Peter's.

 
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(1756–1833).
American sculptor, active in his native Philadelphia. His father was a ship's carpenter and Rush worked mainly in wood, progressing from ships' figureheads to free-standing figures, such as the
Nymph of the Schuylkill
(1812), a work which almost perished through exposure to the elements in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, and was preserved only when it was belatedly cast in bronze. His work is vigorous and naturalistic and he marks the transition from the unselfconscious folk carver to the professional artist. He was one of the prime movers in the foundation of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which has many examples of his work. Thomas
Eakins
, another native of Philadelphia, greatly admired Rush's work.

 
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