Georg Kaspar Nagler


Georg Kaspar Nagler was a German art historian and art writer.

Life and work

Georg Kaspar Nagler, who came from a poor background studied from 1815 at the Wilhelmsgymnasium, Munich. From 1823 he studied philology and natural sciences at the local lyceum, finally receiving in 1829 a doctorate to become Dr. phil. at the University of Erlangen. Already since 1827 he was owner of a second-hand bookshop, after he married the bookshop owner's widow Johanna Ehrentreich. He became an employee of the Bayerische National-Zeitung, published by Joseph Heinrich Wolf.
His New General Artist Lexicon, appeared in 1835–1852 in 22 volumes. For this he received gold medals for art and science from Duke Max in Bayern and Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia. It was largely based on the General Artist Lexicon by Rudolf Füssli. From 1836 he lectured on the history of architecture at the Royal School of Construction.

Publications (selection)



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