Adolf Senff (1785-1863)

Adolf Senff (1785-1863)

Adolf Senff (1785-1863)

Carl Adolf Senff was born on 17 March 1785 as the 13th child of Consistorial Councilor Carl Friedrich Senff in the rectory at the Moritzkirche in Halle (Saale). He attended the grammar school "Latina" of the Francke Foundations and studied theology in Halle. He then served as a teacher at the Leipzig Bürgerschule and in the home of Gerhard von Kügelgen sen. in Dresden, from whom he received his painterly education.
In 1815 Senff volunteered for the Makran hunters, with whom he moved into the campaign against France, but without participating in a battle. He then went to Italy, where he spent 32 years of his life. Senff lived in the well-known artists' hostel "Casa Butti" in Rome, he became a member of the Academy of Arts in Perugia and earned the reputation of a major portrait and still life painter. He maintained numerous contacts with other artists, eg. To the sculptors Christian Daniel Rauch and Bertel Thorvaldsen.
In 1848 Senff returned to Germany. After a short stay in Berlin, he settled with his older brother Carl Wilhelm Senff in Ostrau am Petersberg, where this pastor was. With undiminished creative power he created here some of his most important works. Later he married Auguste Held, the foster daughter of his brother. On March 21, 1863, Senff died at the age of 78. He was buried in Ostrava. His grave is located in the cemetery of the Protestant church of the place under the so-called "professor's linden". In 2013, the year of his 150th anniversary, his grave was completely restored by the Ostrau Society.
The Moritzburg Halle (Saale) - Art Museum of the State of Saxony-Anhalt - has the largest contiguous collection of works by Carl Adolf Senff.
Ostrava Society e. V.