Ernst Stückelberg was a Swiss painter. After the early death of his father, he was patronised by his uncle, the architect Melchior Berri, and his brother-in-law, the art historian Jacob Burckhardt. Stückelberg studied in Basel, Bern, Antwerp and Paris from 1847 to 1853. In the following three years, he attended the art academy in Munich. From 1856, he travelled regularly to Italy. In 1860, he settled in Switzerland, living first in Zurich, then in Basel. Stückelberg was above all a history painter, whose style shows the influences of his many visits to other countries. His main works are the frescoes in the Tellskapelle (Tell’s chapel) on the Lake Lucerne, which show scenes from the life of the Swiss national hero William Tell. After Stückelberg completed the frescoes in 1883, he received further commissions for large-scale works showing episodes from Swiss history. In 1883, the University of Zurich awarded him an honorary doctorate.