Therese Emilie Henriette Winkel facts for kids

Therese Emilie Henriette Winkel (born December 20, 1784 – died March 7, 1867) was a talented German artist, writer, composer, and harp player. She sometimes used different names when she published her work, like Comala and Theorosa. Therese was born in Weissenfels, but her family moved to Dresden in 1788 after her parents separated.

In 1800, she was briefly engaged to a writer named Johann Friedrich Rochlitz, but their engagement ended for reasons we don't know.

Studying in Paris

In 1806, Therese and her mother traveled to Paris. There, she studied painting with a famous artist named Jacques-Louis David. She also learned music from talented musicians like François-Joseph Naderman and Marie–Martin Marcel, Vicomte de Marin. While in Paris, Therese wrote many letters to her friends. Some of these letters were even printed in magazines and the Dresden evening newspaper. Her former fiancé, Rochlitz, also helped publish some of her music and art reviews, but he kept her name a secret.

Returning to Germany

Therese Winkel came back to Germany in 1808. She gave several concerts that were attended by important people, including famous writers like Achim von Arnim and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Therese and her mother continued to live in Dresden. Once a year, she worked as a temporary harpist in the Dresden Opera orchestra. For the rest of the year, she earned money by making copies of well-known paintings from the Dresden art gallery. She also taught language classes and was a harp teacher for the princesses of Saxony. Her home became a popular meeting spot for writers and a music group called the Dresden Song Circle. She spent time with artists like Gerhard von Kügelgen and Louise Seidler, and writers such as Theodor Hell and Otto Heinrich von Loeben.

Her Writings

Therese Winkel kept writing articles about art and music for publication. Sometimes, she used the name Theodosa. In 1815, her essay called The Genius of Instruments was published in Johann Friedrich Kind's magazine, Die Harfe (The Harp). For this essay, she used the name Comala.

Her Artworks

In 1822, Therese Winkel created a special altarpiece for the Brockwitz church. This artwork is still there today! It was a copy of a painting called Christ Blessing by Giovanni Bellini, which was made around the year 1500.

Out of her 127 paintings, 45 are now kept in the Bautzen City Museum. Most of these are copies of works by Italian masters from the 16th and 17th centuries, and also by artists from Dresden who lived at the same time as her. She also painted a few portraits. Seven of her paintings are on long-term loan to the Kügelgenhaus, which is a museum about Dresden Romanticism. After she passed away, the Weimar School of Art bought her other artworks.

Notable Works

Here are some of the things Therese Winkel created:

Art Pieces

• Brockwitz altarpiece (made in 1822)
• 127 paintings (many are copies of famous works)

Musical Compositions

• Three sonatas for harp and violin

Written Works

• Art reviews
• Autobiography (a book about her own life, written in 1860)
• The Genius of Instruments (an essay)
• Letters (some were published in newspapers)
• Music reviews
• Pamphlets (small booklets) about how harps are built