Grabdenkmal des Konrad Celtis

Unknown artist

On a journey that Heller made in the summer of 1821 together with the head of the library Joachim Heinrich Jäck (1777-1847), they visited the grave monument of Konrad Celtis (1459-1508) at Stephansdom in Vienna. The poor state of the so-called humanist epitaphs apparently dismayed Heller so much that he dedicated an essay to his “desire for the preservation of the tomb” in the anthology “Contributions to the history of art and literature” (cf. Jäck/Heller 1822). In order to know the condition of the monument, Hellers mentor Jäck instructed the then Viennese artist Georg Christoph Wilder to record it in a drawing. This drawing, dated August 22, 1821 and signed by Wilder, was followed by the commission for a copper plate, which ultimately illustrated Heller’s essay. On June 09, 1822, Wilder attested to have received “2 Carolins” from Heller (cf. JH.Msc.Oec.15d of the Bamberg State Library).