page_title: Emil Julius Epple
section_title: Education and early career
hierarchical_section_title: Emil Julius Epple / Biography / Education and early career
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Epple met Anadyomene en Schiller, 1912
context_page_description: Emil Julius Epple was a German sculptor working mainly in Italy and southern Germany. In 1937, he moved to the Netherlands, becoming a Dutch citizen after the Second World War.
context_section_description: Epple went to the local gymnasium and subsequently to the Stuttgarter Kunstschule (Art School). There, he studied for a couple of years under professor Adolf von Donndorf, before moving to Munich, following classes, from April 1896 onward, at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste by professor Wilhelm von Rümann.
  After a short stay in Stuttgart and Berlin, Epple looked for inspiration in London. In the British Museum, he carefully studied the Elgin Marbles, a collection of Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of architect and sculptor Phidias (c. 480 – 430 BC).
  In 1899, Epple went to Rome, where he would stay till 1907. To support himself, he repaired and restored Classical Roman and Greek art objects. In Rome, both Italy's natural environment and the innumerable Classical art treasuries definitively shaped Epple's own sense of art and Classical predilection. He would develop a highly personal style that many art critics and art lovers would quickly recognize and appreciate. In 1900, Epple had his first exhibition in Munich.
  Having lived and worked for almost a decade in Rome, Epple moved to Munich. In the Bavarian capital he was asked to make six more than life-size herms of Wagner, Shakespeare, Goethe, Schiller, Mozart, and Beethoven for the Royal Stuttgart Hoftheater. During this period, he also created numerous portraits, memorials, and reliefs, often working closely with other artists and architects such as Albert Eitel and Eugen Steigleder, making the Villa Gemmingen in Stuttgart into a unique "Gesamtkunstwerk", that is still highly praised. Many works were commissioned by private industrialist, bankers or professionals, as well as by government institutions such as the Landespolizei (Bavarian Police), for whom he made an impressive statue for its fallen officers.
caption: Epple with Anadyomene and Schiller, 1912
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