Paul Fischer

Fischer was born at Hanover on 16 September 1786. He was the youngest of three sons of a line-engraver, who died very soon after the birth of the youngest child, leaving his family in poverty. At the age of fourteen, Fischer was placed as a pupil with Johann Heinrich Ramberg, the fashionable court painter, by whom he was employed in painting portraits, theatrical scenery, and generally assisting his master. He painted miniature portraits of Queen Charlotte and the junior members of the royal family, and was employed by the Prince Regent to paint a series of military costumes.