The New International Encyclopædia/Löfftz, Ludwig

LÖFFTZ, lẽfts, (1845&mdash;). A German painter, born at Darmstadt. He was a pupil of Kreling and Raupp at Nuremberg, then of Diez at the Academy in Munich, where he became professor in 1879, and of which he was director in 1891-99. His works are not numerous, but are of great perfection. A lofty atmosphere pervades his interiors, treated in the spirit of the Flemish masters, while his religious subjects are imbued with deep feeling and solemn grandeur. Great technical skill and masterly treatment of the chiaroscuro produce the most harmonious effects in all his paintings, which include: &ldquo;Cardinal Playing the Organ&rdquo; (1876), a likeness of Franz Liszt; &ldquo;Avarice and Love&rdquo; (1879, in the collection of W. H. Vanderbilt, New York), suggestive of Quentin Massys; and &ldquo;Erasmus in His Study&rdquo; (Stuttgart Museum). The impressive &ldquo;Pietà&rdquo; (1883) won for him the gold medal at the International Exhibition in Munich, and is now in the New Pinakothek, which also contains &ldquo;Eurydice&rdquo; (1898). For the Cathedral at Freising he painted a large altarpiece, &ldquo;Assumption of the Virgin&rdquo; (1889).