[Born 1786. Still living.]
The eldest son and successor of King Maximilian Joseph. As Crown Prince
he took little interest in public affairs, but confined himself to the
zealous patronage of the fine arts. Frugal in his personal expenditure,
he was extravagant in his purchases of works of art, and in the
construction of his celebrated Glyptothek, a building devoted to the
reception of the finest works of sculpture. Ascending the throne in
1825, he commenced many economical reforms, but still drew around him,
by his munificent patronage, the most celebrated artists of Germany, for
the adornment and elevation of his capital. More than one stately
edifice and exquisite collection in Munich bear testimony to his love
for art and zeal in its promotion. He would have done still more for his
city had he been permitted. He lodged the munificent sum of £30,000 in
the hands of an English banker to purchase the Elgin marbles, in the
event of their rejection by the English government. The sum actually
paid for the marbles by England was £35,000. A grandeur is reflected
upon this--the finest side of Ludwig’s character. On the other hand, he
has lived to become a bigot, to forget his early political reforms, to
deal with a rough hand in matters of religion and state, and to shock
public opinion by illicit alliances, at the very moment he is expressing
a pious anxiety for the restoration of monasteries. In 1848, Ludwig I.
abdicated in favour of his son Maximilian, the reigning king. The
ex-king is a ruler fit for the middle ages, when the love of art was
intense and passionate, when manners were rude and unformed, and the
people in fetters, spiritual and bodily.
[By Halbig, 1848.]
382A. LUDWIG I. _Ex-King of Bavaria._
[Colossal bust, by Ludwig Schwanthaler. Marble. 1840. The original is
in the Royal Palace at Munich.]