The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Rothermel, Peter F.

ROTHERMEL, Peter F., an American painter, born in Luzerne co., Pa., July 8, 1817. He was educated as a land surveyor, studied painting, and about 1840 commenced practice as a portrait painter. In 1856-'7 he visited France, Germany, and Italy, and painted his &ldquo;St. Agnes,&rdquo; now in St. Petersburg, and &ldquo;The Foscari.&rdquo; Some of his best known paintings are &ldquo;De Soto discovering the Mississippi,&rdquo; &ldquo;Columbus before Isabella the Catholic,&rdquo; the &ldquo;Noche Triste,&rdquo; from Prescott's &ldquo;Conquest of Mexico,&rdquo; &ldquo;Patrick Henry before the Virginia House of Burgesses,&rdquo; &ldquo;Christian Martyrs in the Colosseum,&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Battle of Gettysburg,&rdquo; in the state capital at Harrisburg.