RIETSCHEL, ERNST FRIEDRICH AucrusT (1804-1861), one of the most distinguished of modern German sculp-tors. Born at Pulsnitz in Saxony in 1804, at an early age he became an art student at Dresden, and subsequently a pupil of Rauch in Berlin. He there gained an art studentship, aud studied in Rome in 1827-28. After returning to Saxony he soon brought himself into notice by a colossal statue of Frederick Augustus, king of Saxony-, was elected a member of the academy of Dres-den, and thenceforth became one of the chief sculptors of his country. In 1832 he was elected to the Dresden professorship of sculpture, and had many foreign orders of merit conferred on him by the Governments of different countries. His death occurred at Dresden in 1861.

Rietschers style was very varied ; he produced works imbued with inuch religious feeling, and to some extent occupied the same place as a sculptor that Overbeck did in painting. Other import-ant works by Rictschel were purely classical in style. He was specially famed for his portrait figures of eminent men, treated with much idealism and dramatic vigour ; among the latter class his chief works were colossal statues of Goethe and Schiller for the town of Weimar, of Weber for Dresden, and of Lessing for Brunswick. He also designed the memorial statue of Luther for Worms, but died before lie could carry it out. The principal among Rietschers religious pieces of sculpture are the well-known Christ-Angel, and a life-sized Piet4,, executed for the king of Prussia. He also worked a great deal in rilievo, and produced many grace-ful pieces, especially a fine series of bas-reliefs representing Night and Morning, Noon and Twilight, designed with much poetical feeling and imagination.

For a good biography of Rictscha and account of his works see Apperrnann, Ernst Rietschel, Lelpsfc, (J. m.)