Leibl, Wilhelm

(vĭl´hĕlm lī´bəl), 1844–1900, German genre and portrait painter. He studied in Munich where numerous painters came under his influence; the “Leibl group” shared his predilection for the realistic perfection of the old masters. He left Munich to paint the rural people of Bavaria, owing much in his technique to an understanding of Holbein's works. His most famous picture, Three Women in Church (1878–81; Hamburg), marks the height of meticulous naturalism but is also a subtly composed study.