Description: Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (HLS): Drawing lessons with his father and Hieronymus Hess. After spending time in Paris, F. travelled to Munich in 1834. From there, thanks to the support of his patron Emilie Linder, he went to Rome around 1835. 
He travelled throughout the Italian provinces and, from 1841 onwards, regularly sold his paintings to tourists. In 1842-43, he accompanied the archaeologist Richard Karl Lepsius on a Prussian expedition to Egypt, followed by further travels. Ludwig I of Bavaria and Friedrich Wilhelm IV became his patrons. F.'s meticulously crafted Italian vedute were influenced by classicism, while the coloured pen-and-ink drawings from the expedition have a personal, fresh touch.