The Evolution of Friedrich Overbeck's Monumental Painting

Ageeva Polina Postgraduate student, Department of General Art History, Lomonosov Moscow State University 119192, Russia, Moscow, Lomonosovsky Prospekt str., 27, building 4 polina.ag@ya.ru

IntroductionJohann Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869)

 He is known primarily as one of the leaders of the Nazarene artists who were part of the "Union of St. Luke" (German: "Lukasbund"), formed in 1809 in Vienna. The members of the "Lukasbund" were dissatisfied with the artistic ideals in accordance with which they studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, where Overbeck studied with Heinrich Friedrich F?ger since 1806 ^{[15, p. 10]} (Heinrich Friedrich F?ger; 1751-1818). 

The students left Vienna and moved to Rome, where they settled in the building of the monastery of San Isidoro abandoned by the monks, where they lived in the 1810s and 1820s and received the nickname "Nazarenes". The members of the brotherhood considered it their goal to update the artistic language through an appeal to the monuments of art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. First of all, Fra Beato Angelico, Raphael and Albrecht Durer. The appeal to "primitives" influenced not only the stylistics and themes of the plots, but also the choice of painting techniques. They considered it necessary to revive fresco painting in the form in which it existed in Italy during the Renaissance, as opposed to the illusionistic manner of painting of the XVII–XVIII centuries. 

After the creation of murals in Casa Bartholdi, the Nazarenes gained popularity both in Germany and throughout Europe. The artists received important posts in academic educational institutions in Mainz, Munich and Berlin. Overbeck was the only one of the leaders of the brotherhood who remained in Rome, despite the fame and influence he received. 

Despite the fact that monumental painting occupies an important place in the work of Friedrich Overbeck, no separate study was written on the specifics and evolution of the artist's approach to paintings. The artist's frescoes were considered either in the context of the work of the Nazarenes – in particular in such works as "Wall paintings of German Romantics in the Casino Massimo in Rome" by K. Gerstenberg and P. Rave ^[5], "Paintings of the Nazarenes of the Villa Massimo" by K. Andrews ^[1], "The Brothers of St. Luke surrounded by Friedrich Overbeck and the renewal of fresco painting in Rome" P . Wignau-Wilberg ^[14] – in this case, the authors practically did not touch on Overbeck's later works, or the frescoes were analyzed somewhat separately in isolation from each other. In particular, this approach can be used in the monographs "The image of the sacred in the era of Romanticism"^[6] and "The Nazarenes: the Romantic avant-garde and the Art of the concept" ^[7] and K. Grew, "Friedrich Overbeck and the concept of the image of the XIX century" ^[13] M. Timanna, in the article Sh. Seliger's "The Seven Mysteries of Overbeck" ^[12] and S. Fastert's study "The Seven Mysteries of Johann Friedrich Overbeck. The project of the Nazarene art in the context of its time" ^[4]. 

In this regard, it is interesting to identify the specifics of Overbeck's monumental painting in relation to the work of other Nazarenes and the easel works of the author, as well as to trace the evolution of the artist in this art form. 

Casa Bartholdi Overbeck's first monumental commission was the painting of the reception hall of the Roman residence of the Prussian Ambassador Bartholdi – Kaz Bartholdi 

(Casa Bartholdy) – executed in 1816-1817 in a mixed technique of frescoes and tempera together with Peter Cornelius, Franz Catel (Franz Ludwig Catel; 1778-1856), Wilhelm von Schadow (Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow; 1788-1862) and Philipp Veit (1793-1877). Kaz Bartholdi's monumental cycle illustrated the biblical story of Joseph the Beautiful (Gen. 37-50).

Although some Italian artists – for example, Giuseppe Zauli (Giuseppe Zauli; 1763-1822), Tommaso Minardi (1787-1871), Gaspare Landi (Gaspare Landi; 1756-1830) and Pelaggio Palagi (Pelagio Palagi; 1775-1860) – we have already worked in previous years both theoretically and practically on the revival of the fresco technique^{[13, s. 283]}, it was this order that brought the Nazarenes fame as muralists. 

However, at the moment when the Nazarenes started working on the murals, none of them had experience in the fresco technique – it was not taught at the Academy, and the artist had to master it on his own, although Feit's friend, the artist Karl Eggers, could advise on the technique of murals of the Nazarenes, based on chemical research and the study of literature (Karl Friedrich Peter Eggers; 1826-1900) ^{[14, s. 29]}. 

In his letter dated September 22, 1816, Overbeck informed Ludwig Vogel that the work on the murals was difficult because of the more complex fresco technique compared to oil painting: "You have no idea how strange it is at first when you have raw lime plaster in front of you. I was not as confused at the very first attempt to paint in oil in my life as when I first tried murals, and it took us some time before we got used to it. But the more we understand this peculiar approach, the more we like it, and now we are painfully thinking about the time when this work will come to an end" ^{[9, s. 390]}.  

The cycle consisted of nine frescoes:  six narrative murals illustrating the stages of the story of Joseph ("Joseph's Sale", "Jacob mourns Joseph", "Joseph and Potiphar's wife", "Joseph in prison interprets the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker", "Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh" and "Joseph's meeting with his brothers"); two allegorical images representing Joseph's dreams ("Seven Hungry Years" and "Seven Full Years") and one Egyptian landscape. 

Of the nine frescoes, Overbeck created two: the initial one – "The Sale of Joseph" (Fig. 1) – and the allegorical "Seven Hungry Years" (Fig.2), located in the lunette above the "Meeting of Joseph with his brothers". 

Fig. 1. Friedrich Overbeck. The sale of Joseph by the brothers. Painting from Casa Bartholdi in Rome. 1817. Fresco, tempera. 243x304 cm . Berlin State Museums, National Gallery.Fig. 2. Friedrich Overbeck.

Seven hungry years. Painting from Casa Bartholdi in Rome. 1816–1817. Fresco, tempera. 150x480 cm . Berlin State Museums, National Gallery.

In The Sale of Joseph, the basis of the composition, apparently, was borrowed and reworked from a fresco on the same subject from Raphael's Loggia in the Vatican. The fresco of Raphael is built in two plans: the first depicts the moment of Joseph's sale into slavery, the background – a conditional landscape. Overback in the space of one image combines several episodes of Old Testament history: the way the brothers get money for Joseph, and the way the merchant takes the crying Joseph away from the brothers. There are also two scenes in the background: on the left, Joseph's brothers stain his clothes with the blood of a kid, and on the right, a trading caravan goes into the distance. It can be assumed that the symbolic load as a reference to the "good shepherd" is also carried by the image of a shepherd with sheep in the background. 

The specifics of the deliberately archaic artistic language of Overbeck's frescoes regarding the manner of the masters of the Vienna School of Painting, where he was trained, can be revealed by comparing his work with the frescoes of the head of the Vienna Academy, Heinrich Friedrich Fuger (who executed in 1782-1789 ^{[11, P. 131-132]}classical frescoes in the library of the Palazzo Reale in Naples commissioned by the Queen of Naples Maria Carolina of Austria, daughters of Maria Theresa. 

When comparing Overbeck's The Sale of Joseph with Parnassus and Fuger's Renaissance of Fine Arts, the most significant differences between them are: sharply demarcated plans, calm horizontal and vertical rhythm, restrained gestures and conditional chiaroscuro modeling in Overbeck's fresco, compared with smoothly flowing plans, dynamic, based on diagonals of Fuger's composition. At the same time, in the restrained color, proportions of the figures, their relationship with the background, poses, the classical basis of Overbeck's creativity is noticeable. 

In general, the stylistic principles of this fresco by Overbeck are almost similar to those that the artist uses in easel works of this time – and to a greater extent in rather chamber, small paintings. For comparison with the fresco (whose dimensions are 243x304 cm), two works of the same period are indicative: "The Adoration of the Magi" (1813. Wood, oil. 49,7x66 cm. Hamburg, Kunsthalle) and "Christ at Mary and Martha" (1812-1816. Canvas, oil. 103x85.5 cm. Berlin State Museums, National Gallery).

According to the impression given, the painting "Christ at Mary and Martha" has a more monumental character than the fresco, despite the fact that the loading of the composition by the actors in both works is almost the same. The proportions of the characters, their placement in space (large, rather massive figures occupy most of the space of the painting) are almost similar to frescoes. Similar are the calm vertical rhythm combined with the almost isocephalic placement of figures, and the artist's work with plans delimited from the foreground not only in space, but also in time. In the painting "Christ at Mary and Martha", a scene illustrating the parable of the good Samaritan is depicted in the window, and in the "Sale of Joseph" in the background, delimited by a sharp perspective reduction, the following chronological episodes of the history of Joseph are depicted.

At the same time, it is interesting that the fresco is much more detailed than the painting. Overbeck somewhat overloads her with characters, organizing a procession on the same principle as in his early small painting "The Adoration of the Magi", placing several figure groups horizontally. However, compared to the paintings, in the fresco Overback leaves more space in the foreground, placing the characters not close to the bottom edge of the picture. Perhaps in this way Overbeck sought to unite the real space and the illusory space. At the same time, a lighter, muted color and a softer chiaroscuro design make the fresco more flat and more archaic in the impression it gives, which more closely corresponded to the ideal of the Nazarenes and especially Overbeck.

Apparently, in this fresco Overbeck is moving along the path of not monumentalism, but fragmentation and detail: he rather perceives the large format as an opportunity to portray more characters and minor elements. This fresco is perceived more as an enlarged book illustration or an enlarged painting, rather than part of an architectural whole. This approach of the Nazarenes practically did not differ from the one that was demonstrated in the library of the Palazzo Reale by Fuger. 

It is important to note that although the artistic language of the frescoes of the Nazarenes in Casa Bartholdi has a number of common features: a general light, subdued local color, orientation in style and iconography on the paintings of Raphael in the Vatican, the manner of Overbeck stood out among the works of other Nazarenes. 

Shadov paid much more attention to the physiognomic and emotional characteristics of the characters, while the faces of the characters of Overbeck and Faith are concentrated, calm, idealized, being devoid of any personal characteristics. Cornelius' painting is more monumental – if Overbeck focused more on Raphael and Perugino, then Cornelius – on Michelangelo. Feit's frescoes are closest to Overbeck's work – in the painting "Joseph and Potiphar's Wife", he, like Overbeck, reworks the composition of Raphael. The similarity is also expressed in a subdued cool local color, generality of form, some conventionality in the construction of perspective. However, Overbeck is distinguished by a great detail in the story – compared to Faith and Shadov, his compositions carry a much greater semantic load, which will be further developed in the Massimo Casino cycle.

Casino MassimoThe success of the frescoes in Casa Bartholdi contributed to the fact that the Nazarenes began to receive other orders for monumental paintings.

Around 1817, Marquis Carlo Massimo invited artists to paint three rooms of a family villa of the XVII century ^{[1, P. 44]}. The theme of the murals was connected with the history of Italian poetry. Each of the three rooms was dedicated to one of the great Italian poets: Dante, Tasso and Ariosto ^{[14, s. 60]}. Friedrich Overbeck designed the Tasso Hall by developing the concept and painting the ceiling and three wall frescoes in 1817-1827, and completed the work on the hall by completing the last three frescoes in 1828-1829. The Nazarene Joseph Furich (Joseph Ritter von Furich; 1800-1876). 

Casino Massimo (Casino Massimo) it is interesting, first of all, that here Overbeck was able to show his individuality for the first time in the artistic organization of an integral space. In his letter, the artist wrote that "the opportunity to produce such an organic unity in this place is what makes this order so attractive for me. <...> However, this peculiarity lies in the fact that it [painting] should be architectural, i.e. combined with architecture into a single organic whole" [cit. po 14, s. 66]. 

At the same time, the style of Overback relative to Kaz Bartholdi has practically not changed. Interestingly, although in the letters Overbeck gave a low assessment of the coloristic possibilities of the fresco: "Fresco painting will always be at a disadvantage if you compare individual frescoes with oil paintings, because in a fresco it is impossible to achieve either brilliance of color or execution, as in this; So it should never be included in this comparison, but should be used only where, as I said, it should be and a whole connected with everything local can be achieved; because, in turn, an oil painting cannot compete with it at all" [cit. po 14, s. 66], as a colorist, the artist has noticeably evolved compared to his own early works. In the "Sale of Joseph" in Casa Bartholdi, a muted dark color scheme dominates, and in the Tasso hall, pure, light colors delight the eye: light green, blue, purple, crimson. The light pink highlights on the green drapery of the allegory of the liberated Jerusalem look very impressive. However, it is much more important to change the placement of paintings and the choice of subjects with their interpretation. 

The poem "Liberated Jerusalem", chosen for the "Tasso Hall", narrated the events of the First Crusade. This theme was close to Overbeck, firstly, as it embodied the idea of chivalry and the Middle Ages, as well as its religious content ^{[5, pp. 84-85]}. 

According to its configuration, the Tasso Hall was square in plan and covered with a vault with a square-shaped ceiling. Overbeck placed three small frescoes on the long side, while the end walls are occupied with paintings entirely. As in Casa Bartholdi, the placement of murals and their correlation with architecture was decided according to the "easel" principle – Overbeck divided the long part into three separate compositions. When choosing subjects for frescoes on the walls, Overbeck chooses the chronological principle of illustrating history, and places murals on the ceiling that carry symbolic meaning or rhyme thematically with the images on the walls.

The story begins with a fresco located in the wall between the windows (Fig. 3) – the Archangel Gabriel appears to Gottfried of Bouillon with the news that God has chosen him as the leader of the Crusade. Then the plot develops counterclockwise – the end wall depicts the beginning of the Crusade – the military council of Christian rulers, which was convened by Gottfried. The end of the Crusade – Gottfried's prayer in the Temple – is located on the opposite wall. Between these two frescoes, which formed the "frame" of the cycle, there is a long wall on which the adventures of the heroes are illustrated: "Rinaldo in the forest" and scenes unfolding against the backdrop of battles: "Rinaldo and Armida" and "The Death of Odoardo and Gildippa".

Fig. 3. Friedrich Overbeck. Gottfried of Bouillon's call to the Crusade. 1822–1823. Casino Massimo.

But the most interesting thing in this hall is the ceiling painting (Fig. 4), in which Overbeck moved away from the illustrative approach and set out to create a symbolic image. An allegory of the liberated Jerusalem (1817-1819) was placed in the medallion of the vault – a female figure in a crown of thorns, sitting on a throne and holding a scroll in one hand and the Gospel in the other. Angels descend to her from both sides, one with a finger pointing to the sky, and the second – removing chains from her hands. A similar structure with a symbolic image in the "castle" and historical scenes on the walls was also used by Cornelius in the adjacent Dante Hall. According to his idea, Paradise was represented on the vaults, and the image of the Trinity was placed in the central medallion. The image itself, as the researchers suggest ^{[5, s. 87]}, could have been created under the influence of Pinturicchio's allegory of Eloquence: the similarity can be traced in the location of minor characters and the design of the throne. Moreover, Overbeck changed the shape of the throne: in the cardboard it was assumed that the Allegory of the liberated Jerusalem would sit against a background with a back in the shape of a wimperg with a rose window in the center, which would be located behind the girl's head like a halo - in the picturesque version, the fresco looks more monolithic and monumental. 

Fig. 4. Friedrich Overbeck. Allegory of the liberated Jerusalem. Sophronia and Olindo. Rinaldo and Armida. The baptism of Clorinda. Erminia and the shepherds. 1817–1821. Casino Massimo.

            According to Overbeck's idea, a frieze made in the grisaille technique, as in Raphael's Stanzas or Constantine's Hall, was to pass below, under the large frescoes. Von Furlich's frieze comments on large images, complementing the story with minor details. This technique will be used by Schnorr in the "Halls of the Nibelungs" in Munich: he also placed small grisaille images above the main frescoes, also illustrating the storylines associated with the main fresco. If in Casa Bartholdi the Nazarenes quoted or creatively reworked Renaissance schemes only in their own manner or chosen iconography, then here the techniques are borrowed not only in this key, but also for the decoration of the hall space. However, this is not a mechanical thoughtless transfer of figures, but rather an attempt to use the finds of the Renaissance masters for their own purposes. 

The significance of the depicted events is often emphasized by compositional quotations from Renaissance frescoes on religious subjects. Thus, the fresco depicting the call to the Crusade from the Archangel Gabriel to Gottfried (1822-1823; fig. 3) reworks the iconographic scheme of the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. A direct proof of this can be seen by comparing this fresco with Overbeck's painting "Christ on the Mount of Olives" (1827-1833. Canvas, oil. 298x200 cm. Hamburg, Kunsthalle), almost literally repeated the composition of the painting. 

Thus, we can say that in this work of Overbeck there is a further development of the symbolic principle: namely, the use of typological symbolism, better known from the works of the pre–Raphaelites - a system of educational plots, when characters and stories from the Holy Scriptures can be perceived as harbingers of their respective historical events and heroes.   

Fresco of the Porciuncula facade in the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli             

The last monumental work carried out by Overbeck (1829) is a fresco of the medieval chapel of the IX century – Portiuncula (fig. 5) – the most revered place by the Franciscans – in Santa Maria degli Angeli (La basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli) in Assisi. The fresco illustrates one of the most important episodes for this place from the legend of the life of Francis of Assisi: on the fresco of the facade, Overbeck depicted how Saint Francis receives an indulgence from Christ and the Virgin Mary, in whose honor the Feast of Forgiveness was established, the story of which is told in the "Letter of Theobald", Bishop of Assisi. Francis was granted a vision in which Christ asked the saint what he wanted for the salvation of souls, to which the saint wished forgiveness for everyone who comes to Porciuncula. His request was accepted on the condition that Francis would ask the pope for it, and after his appeal, Pope Honorius III gave the right to give indulgence once a year, which became the Holiday of Forgiveness ^{[13, s. 303]}.  

Friedrich Overbeck. A holiday of Forgiveness. 1829. Porciuncula. Santa Maria degli Angeli, Assisi.

The painting was placed in a gable on the entrance facade – this choice may be due to the artist's orientation to the historical context, since the mosaics on the facades of the medieval cathedral in Orvieto were arranged in the same way. The fresco of Overbeck is surrounded by works of early painting: a crucifix attributed to Perugino was painted on the gable on the opposite side of the chapel around 1485, and inside, in the altar part, there is a fresco of six parts created by Ilario da Viterbo in 1393, illustrating the life of St. Francis, with the annunciation in the center. 

The style of Overback in this work has not changed much relative to the frescoes of Casino Massimo: the symmetrical balanced composition, developing vertically and very shallow space, the predominance of the linear component, lyrical types and light coloring of the frescoes are preserved. 

As in his frescoes in Casa Bartholdi and Casino Massimo, Overbeck continued to adhere to the compositional principles of Renaissance models. First of all, it was, of course, Raphael. Researchers noted ^{[13, s. 298]} that Overbeck reworked the composition "Coronation of Mary" for the fresco of Porciuncula. Or, perhaps, in part he could have been guided by the "Dispute" from the Vatican stanzas – namely, the division of space into two zones, heavenly and earthly, where the center of the earthly zone is the image of the altar, and the heavenly zone is the Deesis (in this case, only the image of Christ and Mary). The same scheme will be used by Overbeck in his program work – the painting "The Triumph of Religion in the Arts" (1840. Oil on canvas, 392x392. Shtedelevsky Art Institute, Frankfurt am Main). 

Of particular interest is the framing of the main composition, in the creation of which Overbeck was assisted by the young artist Edward von Steinle (Edward Jakob von Steinle; 1810-1886) ^{[10, s. 391]}. In the upper part, an ornamental pattern with putti playing musical instruments in medallions was depicted in gold, and in the lower, on vertical panels framed with characters from the gospel story: two from the parable of the Prodigal Son, and two more from the parable of the Good Shepherd ^{[10, s. 394]} (Fig. 6). Considering that the plot of the main fresco is devoted to the theme of forgiveness, it can be argued that when decorating the Porciuncula, Overbeck, referring to the biblical prototypes, again organizes the semantic structure of the painting on the principle of typological symbolism. 

Fig. 6. Friedrich Overbeck. The return of the prodigal son. The good shepherd. 1829. Porciuncula. Santa Maria degli Angeli, Assisi.

"The Seven Sacraments" Although the fresco in Assisi was his last completed work, he showed himself most fully as a master of monumental painting when creating cartons for the cycle "Seven Sacraments" in 1846-1862, which was never embodied in a pictorial form.

The grandiosity of his plan here is close to the schemes of Cornelius in the Glyptothek or even Camposanto – created simultaneously with the "Seven Sacraments" and also not translated into reality. Overbeck's goal was to explain his view of the Christian religion and painting ^{[4, s. 9]}. It was assumed that the Sacraments would be characterized as the central feasts of the church.

The Overback cycle of seven Sacraments illustrates Roman Catholic theology, which is already evident from the number seven - in contrast to the Protestant Sacraments, which included only Baptism and the Eucharist, approved in the New Testament by Jesus Christ. 

The presentation of the Sacraments of the Church in the form of historical subjects was very rarely used in art – the most notable exception was Nicolas Poussin, who created two series of paintings on the theme of the seven Sacraments ^{[6, p. 162]}.

Initially, Overbeck planned to place his frescoes, as in the case of Assisi, in the medieval cathedral – in Orvieto. As he wrote, "for a new decoration, I offered my Seven Sacraments. Perhaps it will be a beautiful swan song if I can sing it!" ^{[4, s. 10]}. As a result, a commission from the Roman Academy of Arts decided that it would be the best solution to restore the old frescoes, and Overbeck was disappointed.

However, he still created a series of cartons, which, thanks to the exhibitions of 1866, became widely known in Europe.  Overbeck's fans and students planned to build a small round chapel in Belgium, on the walls of which Overbeck's murals would be placed – three on each side and the sacrament of the Eucharist over the altar ^{[4, s. 13]}; but the project was not implemented. 

All seven cartons are constructed in the same way: in the central rectangle there is a central scene – the establishment of the corresponding Sacrament. On the four sides, this image is framed by auxiliary images, including Arabesques, early Christian symbols and scenes from the New and Old Testaments, creating a complex system of links and relationships. In order to avoid misunderstandings, Overbeck issued an explanation for his cycle, published in the form of engravings ^{[4, s. 17]}.

. 

Fig. 7. Friedrich Overbeck. The Seven Sacraments. Christening. Approx. 1862/64. Oil on canvas. 67.8x76.5 cm. New Pinakothek, Munich.

As an example, we can consider the first expression of the cycle – "Baptism" (Fig. 7). In the center, in the foreground, the Sacrament of Baptism itself is depicted – the apostles are arranged in three groups and perform the first baptism. Researchers have noted ^{[4, s. 19]} that such an image of baptism, as in Overbeck, is an iconographic innovation. Each of the three groups of people represents the peoples of the world who are called to participate in the sacraments established by Christ and preserved in His church: on the left – Semites or descendants of Shem, in the middle – Hamites or descendants of Ham, and on the right – Japhetids or descendants of Japhet.

The baptism takes place against the background of the events of Pentecost – the next plan shows how the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples of Christ, and on the left is the sermon of the apostle Peter.  Above, the central medallion depicts the baptism of Christ in the Jordan. The deer lying and drinking are lined up on both sides, which, in accordance with the text of the Psalm ("As the deer desires the streams of water, so my soul desires You, O God!" Ps. 41:2) "symbolizes the thirst for healing, which is supposed to be in the believing soul" [Citation 4, s. 19-20].

In the lower predella, two scenes from the Old Testament are placed (this will be repeated in the rest of the cartons), in this case, Noah's entry into the ark, which "according to the interpretation of the church fathers is an image of a church in which one can only find salvation from the general fall" ^{[4, s. 20]} (already the Apostle Paul connected the flood and baptism), and on the right – the passage of the people of Israel across the Red Sea, which, according to the interpretation of church writers, means that "all were baptized in the Red Sea and, as it were, came out of this baptism into a new life" ^{[4, s. 20]}. 

The side panels are built according to the typological principle, however, not direct correspondence, but contrast. For example, Overbeck contrasts Baptism with "Expulsion from Paradise." The composition with the tree of knowledge repeats the right image, which also depicts a cross with a Copper Serpent, which, according to researchers, "foreshadows the redemption of man's sin through the death of Christ on the cross" ^{[6, p.166]}. 

Conclusion Thus, having traced the development of Friedrich Overbeck's fresco painting, we came to the conclusion that the foundations of Overbeck's fresco language were laid already in his first work, in Casa Bartholdi.

The style of the frescoes from this cycle to the final "Seven Sacraments" has practically not changed. The predominance of line over color, strict symmetrical compositions with a built central axis, calm poses and gestures, and an appeal in search of a coloristic and compositional solution to Raphael's works have been preserved. It was Raphael's consistent preference for other Renaissance artists (for example, Michelangelo), light and soft color, clarity, and at the same time the detail of the paintings that distinguished Overbeck's works from other Nazarenes. 

Overbeck's frescoes differ from easel paintings primarily by the same attention to detail and saturation of the composition with additional characters. This fact, as well as the ratio of monumental compositions with architecture, testify in favor of the fact that Overbeck perceives the fresco primarily as a large painting merged with the wall, without fully using the possibilities of this art form. 

However, it is probably the number of characters and attributes that allows the scale of the fresco painting to fit on one plane that allowed Overbeck to develop towards the complication of symbolic content, moving from the illustration of religious works to the expression of theological ideas through his own program. It is in his final work, in the Seven Sacraments, that Overbeck applies the principle of typological symbolism most consistently among all Nazarenes, anticipating in this the discoveries of artists of the second half of the XIX century.