Bartholdi

Bartholdi, Jacob Salomon, was born of Jewish parents at Berlin in 1779. After studying jurisprudence at Halle, he travelled for some years in France, Italy, and Greece. Adopting Christianity, he entered the Austrian army and served against Napoleon. In 1815 he became Prussian consul-general in Italy, and subsequently ambassador at Florence. He made a valuable art collection which was purchased by the Berlin Museum, and he employed Cornelius, Overbeck, and other German artists to paint frescoes in his house at Rome. He wrote A History of the Tyrolese War of 1809, and A Life of Cardinal Consalvi. His death occurred in Rome in 1825.