son of Philipp Jakob, an engraver and miniature painter at the court of Darmstadt
with Carle Vanloo, Francesco Casanova, and at Jean-Georges Wille’s engraving academy in Paris (c. 1755)
1763 - 1771 – exhibits regularly at Paris Salon
1766 – elected member of Académie Royale; nominated Peintre du Roi (Painter to the King)
1771 – hired as chief scene designer at Drury Lane theatre, London
1781 – elected member of Royal Academy, London; develops Eidophusikon (miniature theatre that creates an illusion of motion)
1786 – visits Switzerland with the mystic Count Cagliostro; begins practice as faith-healer
1789 – publishes unpopular tract, A List of a Few Cures Performed by Mr and Mrs de Loutherbourg of Hammersmith Terrace, without Medicine; ceases work as a faith-healer
1790s – contributes history paintings to Thomas Macklin’s Poets Gallery and Robert Bowyer’s Historic Gallery.
1801 – publishes collection of engravings, The Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain
1805 – publishes engravings collection The Picturesque and Romantic Scenery of England and Wales
1807 – appointed Historical Painter to William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester
Paris (1755-68); Italy, Germany and Switzerland (1768-71); London (1771-1812); Switzerland (1786)
William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester; Thomas Macklin; Drury Lane theatre (David Garrick and Richard Brinsley Sheridan)
Falls of the Rhine at Schaffhausen, 1788 RA exhibition (Victoria & Albert Museum, London)
The Deluge, 1790 Poets Gallery exhibition (Victoria & Albert Museum, London)
Battle of the Nile, 1800 (Tate, London)
Andrews, Malcolm. The Search for the Picturesque: Landscape Aesthetics and Tourism in Britain. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1989