Cornelius’ significance is for his influence on the nineteenth-century revival of fresco painting in Germany. Mendelssohn, who had no time for most of the supposedly five hundred German artists based in Rome, made an exception for Cornelius, whose studio he visited. The sculptor Thorvaldsen was a senior figure among expatriate artists in Rome. Olivier, Schorr, Lund and Horny were all associates through the Nazarene group there, with Overbeck — alongside Cornelius — its leader. Mendelssohn later composed a march to celebrate Cornelius’ arrival in Dresden.