Matthias Joseph de Noël
Matthias Joseph de Noël (28 December 1782 – 18 November 1849) was a German merchant, painter, art collector and writer. Life. Born in Cologne, de Noël learned drawing after a commercial apprenticeship in his home town with Egidius Mengelberg and Caspar Arnold Grein, as well as oil painting with Benedikt Beckenkamp. After this training, he spent longer periods in Rome and Paris to devote himself entirely to painting. After his father's death, de Noël returned to Cologne to continue his parents' business. In 1828, de Noël became curator of Cologne's first municipal museum, the "Wallrafianum