A Life in Color and Stone Born in Trier on November 30, 1805, Christoph Christian Ruben moved through the great art centers of Europe with a steady, academic purpose. His early years were shaped by the rigorous training he received in Düsseldorf, studying under Peter von Cornelius beginning in 1823. This foundation in the Düsseldorf school provided him with the technical discipline that would later define his career as a history painter and professor. By 1826, he had settled in Munich, a city where his early professional ambitions began to take physical form through large-scale decorative pr…