Heinrich Mücke

Heinrich Karl Anton Mücke (9 April 1806 – 16 January 1891) was a prominent Realist painter known for his liturgical and genre paintings as well as frescoes, which still adorn some of Germany's ancient castles and cathedrals.

He enjoyed portraying famous historic people in foreign lands, such as Dante in Verona (1846) and Cleopatra Dying (1873).

Not content with liturgical art on canvas, Mücke relished the creation of expansive frescoes in some of the superb old buildings in Germany.

The earliest well-known example is a series of many large images produced over a nine-year period at Castle Heltorf near Düsseldorf: Scenes from life of Barbarossa (1829–1938).

In general Mücke's frescoes comprised early compositions, although these works were clearly interleaved in time with his liturgical oil paintings.