Ferg, Francis Paul

, a German artist, born at Vienna in 1689, had different masters. He quitted Vienna in 1718, and exercised his art with success at Bamberg, went from thence to Dresden, in company with Alexander Thiele, in whose landscapes he inserted the figures and animals. He also passed over to England, where he married, became involved in his circumstances, and, according to report, was found dead at the door of his lodgings, apparently exhausted by cold, want, and misery, in 1740. The style and subjects of this painter resemble those of Berghem and Wouwermans. The ruins which adorn his landscapes are selected in a grand taste, and often executed with a finish that discriminates the rougher surface of hewn stone from the polished one of marble. He combined with great force of colour great truth of imitation. He etched well in aqua fortis, and his prints are eagerly sought for by the curious. ²