Ferdinand Pettrich

Washington Resigning His Commission, ca. 1841, now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Frederick Augustus Ferdinand Pettrich (1798 – 14 February 1872) was a German sculptor active in Germany, Brazil, the United States, and Italy. He was an internationally famous portrait sculptor who created busts of political figures in Washington D.C. as well as Native Americans. In the early 1840s he moved to Brazil to become the Court Sculptor to Emperor Dom Pedro II.^[1]

Born in Dresden to sculptor Franz Pettrich, court sculptor to Elector Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, Pettrich studied in Rome under Bertel Thorvaldsen. After achieving fame in Europe,^[2] in 1835 Pettrich and his wife moved to the United States, first in Philadelphia, then Washington, D.C.^[3] Pettrich died in Rome in 1872.

Sculptures by Pettrich

• The Dying Tecumseh
• Martin Van Buren
• John Vaughan (wine merchant)
• Washington Resigning His Commission
• Mrs. Frederich Augustus Ferdinand Pettrich
• Self-Portrait
• William Norris
• Our Lady of the Confederacy in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Charleston)

The Dying Tecumseh

References

1. Chamberlain,Georgia Stamm. Studies on American Painters and Sculptors of the Nineteenth Century. Robert Chamberlain/ Turnpike Press; 1st Edition, 1965. Hardcover.
2. "Ferdinando Pettrich (1798-1872)". Vatican Museums.
3. "Ferdinand Pettrich". Fine Art Dealers Association.