Marie Ellenrieder (1791 1863) from Constance is one of the most significant female German painters of the nineteenth century. She embarked confidently and successfully on a path through life that was unusual for her time. After starting out as a miniaturist, in 1813 she was the first woman admitted to study at the Munich Art Academy. She soon went on to become a sought-after portraitist. Her expressive portraits of the bourgeoisie and aristocrats, of men, women and children, display a captivating freshness of perception and psychological perspicacity. Marie Ellenrieder also made pioneering contributions to the genre of religious art: her altarpieces for the church in Ichenheim/Ortenau in 1822 were the first by a German female artist for a Catholic church. A journey to Italy in 1822 1824 introduced Marie Ellenrieder to the German Nazarene art movement, which was active in Rome. Their creative work and lifestyle reflected her own ambitions: the linking of life, faith and art. Text in German.