ABEL, JOSEF, born at Aschach, Upper Austria, in 1768, died in Vienna, Oct. 4, 1818. History and portrait painter; pupil of Vienna Academy; obtained in 1794 the gold medal for his Dædalus and Icarus. In 1795 he accompanied Prince Czartoryski to Poland, whence, notwithstanding brilliant offers from Russia, he returned to Vienna, and remained there until 1801, when he went to Rome, where he sketched and partly finished several of his most important works. After 1807 he resided at Vienna and became member of the Academy in 1815. Abel is better known by his engravings than by his pictures. Works: Hector and Andromache, Andromache with Hector's Body, Antigone, Prometheus, Socrates saving Theramenes, Klopstock and Homer entering Elysium (1807), Vienna Museum; Cato of Utica, Dædalus and Icarus, Vienna Academy; Socrates as Sculptor, Amor, Tibullus in Ecstasy, Horace at Tibur, Scene from Olympian Games, Oath over Corpse of Lucretia, Darmstadt Gallery; Socrates dictating his Will, Seizure of Antigone, Liechtenstein Gallery, Vienna.—Andresen, iii. 70; Meyer, Künst. Lex., i. 20.
ABEL DE PUJOL, ALEXANDRE DENIS, born in Valenciennes, France, Jan. 30, 1785, died in Paris, Sept. 28, 1861. History painter, pupil of the Academy of Valenciennes, of the École des Beaux Arts, Paris, and of David, whose manner he followed; won in 1811 the grand prix de Rome, and resided in that city five years. Legion of Honour, 1822; Officer, 1835; Member of Academy, 1835. Earlier works are the best, especially the allegorical ones. He painted a number of pictures, now in the Louvre, for the government, and executed works in several churches of Paris and in the provincial musemus. Works: Renaissance des Arts, a fresco (1819, destroyed in 1856), copy in the Louvre; Lycurgus presenting the Heir Apparent to the Lacedæmonians (1810), École des Beaux Arts; Isaac Blessing the Children of Jacob (1810); Death of Britannicus (1814), Dijon Museum; St. Stephen preaching the Gospel (1817), St. Etienne du Mont; Baptism of Clovis (1824), Cathedral of Reims; St. Peter reviving Tabitha (1827), St. Peter, Douai; Burial of the Madonna, Notre Dame, Paris.—Ch. Blanc, École française; Siret, 729; Meyer, Künst. Lex., i. 22.
ABELS, JACOBUS THEODORUS, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sept. 1, 1803, died in Abcoude, June 18, 1866. Landscape painter; pupil of Jan van Ravenswaay. Went to Germany in 1826, and after his return settled at the Hague, where he married a daughter of the painter P. G. van Os. His moonlight landscapes are especially noteworthy. Works: Fir Grove with Cattle, Wood Landscape, View of the Downs, National Museum, Amsterdam.—Meyer, Künst. Lex., ii. 23.
ABILDGAARD, NICOLAI ABRAHAM, born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept. 11, 1742, died at Fredriksdal, June 4, 1809. Son of Soren A., the Norwegian draughtsman, and pupil of Copenhagen Academy, where he won the great medal in 1767. Studied in Italy in 1772-77; became, after his return in the latter year, a member of the Academy, professor in 1786, and its director from 1789 to 1792, and from 1802 to his death. His principal work, a series of Allegories (1791) in the castle of Christiansborg, was burned with the building in 1794. He was held in high esteem, and the Crown Prince, afterwards Christian VIII., delivered his funeral oration. Works: Philoctetes, Danish Ladies sacrificing their Jewelry to ransom King Svend, Cupid, Socrates in Ecstacy, Jupiter; scenes from Hamlet, Richard III., Macbeth, Henry VIII.; illustrations to Terence, Apuleius, and Baggesen.—Meyer, Künst Lex., i. 26; Weilbach, 9.
ABOUKIR, BATTLE OF, Baron Gros, Versailles Museum. Battle fought July 25, 1799. Scene: the final cavalry charge under Murat, when the Turks were driven into the sea. Fort of Aboukir, enemy's camp, and ships in background. Painted in
