Hermann Plüddemann

Hermann Friedhold Plüddemann (17 July 1809, Kolberg - 24 June 1868, Dresden) was a German history painter and illustrator.

Life and work
His father was a prosperous merchant and shipowner. He initially studied with Carl Sieg in Magdeburg then, in 1828, he entered the studios of Carl Joseph Begas in Berlin. Three years later, he enrolled at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he worked with Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow.

Together with Heinrich Mücke, he completed a number of frescoes for Count Franz von Spee at Schloss Heltorf, including a monumental representation of the Battle of Iconium; from sketches by Karl Friedrich Lessing. In 1843, together with Mücke, Lorenz Clasen and Joseph Fay, he was chosen to create frescoes depicting the early history of the Germans, up to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, at the Altes Elberfelder Rathaus.

He moved to Dresden in 1848, to become a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. From 1852 to 1856, he was almost exclusively occupied in creating illustrations for a book of German ballads by Georg Wigand, and German History in Pictures, published by Carl Christian Meinhold. He was best known for his series of paintings depicting the lives of Christopher Columbus and Frederick Barbarossa. Much of his work was lost during World War II.

Selected illustrations

 *  Album deutscher Künstler in Originalradirungen. - Düsseldorf : Buddeus, 1841. (Online)
 * Deutsche Dichtungen mit Randzeichnungen deutscher Künstler. - Düsseldorf : Buddeus, (Vols.1–2) 1843. (Online)
 * Reumont, Alfred von. Sagas légendes des bords du Rhin : orné de 8 gravures sur acier. - Aix-la-Chapelle: Kohnen, 1838. (Online)
 * Kugler, Franz. Skizzenbuch. - Berlin : Reimer, 1830. (Online)