A Brief, Sharp Presence To look at the surviving traces of Emma Körner is to encounter a life cut short by tragedy and fever. Born in Dresden in 1788, she did not have the luxury of a long, evolving career. Instead, her work exists as a concentrated burst of talent from a woman who lived only twenty-seven years. She was a German painter, shaped by an environment where art and intellect were the primary currencies of her household. Her upbringing in Dresden placed her at the center of a specific social circle. As the daughter of a judge, Christian Gottfried Körner, she grew up in a home that…