Gottfried Mind - Early Life

Early Life

Gottfried Mind was born at Bern in the year 1768. His father had come as a joiner and form-cutter to Switzerland from Lipsich, in Upper Hungary. Mind was mostly left to himself because of his weak constitution.

Herr Gruner was a lover of art. During the summer, he had a German artist named Legel in his house who often drew buildings and cattle from nature. This excited the attention of young Mind in some of his idle rambles: he followed Legel everywhere, and watched him while he worked. Legel would take him along with him in his walks, or amuse him in his own apartment with exhibitions of prints. In particular, he allowed the boy to turn over Ridinger's Animals, of which Herr Gruner had a collection; some of these Mind tried to imitate with the lead pencil, preferring above all lions. These attempts Legel from time to time corrected, and the youngster at length ventured to draw from nature, like his master, and to draw some sheep, goats, and cats.

His father, the joiner, however, thought that wood was the only material that was worthy of one's effort and he also considered drawing on paper to be unworthy. Whenever the boy asked paper for drawing, he threw him a bit of wood; Gottfried also tried cutting animals in wood, an art in which he speedily attained such dexterity, that his wooden sheep and goats came to ornament all the presses and mantel-pieces in the village. He also tried drawing likenesses of some peasant boys of Worblaufen, or carving them in wood; and these attempts were not unsuccessful.