Blüte der Kunst in München,

The painting is a design for wall decoration that was never carried out. It celebrates the flourishing of the arts in Munich under King Ludwig I. Neureuther¿s composition is based on Raphael¿s School of Athens and shows the painter Peter von Cornelius in the centre, surrounded by his fellow artists. Even Schack¿s friend the historian Ferdinand Gregorovius, not generally well disposed towards Munich, praised the king¿s achievement: `The arts really did flourish, with Cornelius, Schwanthaler, Schnorr, Rottmann, Klenze, Veit, Overbeck, Ohlmüller, Gärtner etc. The collections of the Pinakotheks and the Glyptothek would adorn even Florence and Rome.¿