Carl WERNER was born in Weimar, Germany, on 4 October 1808 and died in Leipzig on 10 January 1894.

He studied painting in Leipzig under Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld before turning briefly to architecture in Munich between 1829 and 1831. He later returned to painting and received a scholarship that allowed him to travel to Italy. Werner settled for a period in Venice, where he established a studio and developed his reputation as a highly accomplished watercolour painter.

Werner became known for his detailed architectural views, landscapes and Orientalist subjects. He travelled widely throughout Europe and the Middle East, including Italy, Spain, Palestine, Egypt, Greece and Sicily. His journeys provided the subjects for many of his most admired works, particularly his views of Venice, Jerusalem, Cairo and the Nile.

His watercolours are characterised by precise draughtsmanship, refined handling of light and colour, and careful attention to architectural detail. Werner’s work combines documentary accuracy with a romantic sense of atmosphere, reflecting the nineteenth-century European fascination with travel, antiquity and the cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Among his notable publications were *Jerusalem and the Holy Places*, published in London in 1866-67, and *Carl Werner’s Nile Sketches*, published in 1875. He also exhibited widely in Europe, including in England, where he showed works at the New Watercolour Society.

Carl Werner later became a professor at the Leipzig Academy. Today he is remembered as one of the distinguished German watercolourists of the nineteenth century, particularly admired for his architectural views and Orientalist compositions.