Wilhelm Heinrich Ludwig Gruner, a German engraver, born in Dresden, Feb. 24, 1801. He studied in Italy, Spain, France, and England. His first effort, an engraving of a Spanish shepherd, after Velasquez, was followed by a portrait of Mengs, and engravings of Madonnas after Raphael, and of the paintings of Giulio de' Medici and Moses by Murillo. In Rome he published in 1839 a series of engravings, under the title I mosaici della capella Chigi, and soon afterward he copied the frescoes in the hall of Heliodorus. For the Berlin museum he prepared, at the request of the king of Prussia, a series of engravings after the cartoons of Raphael at Hampton Court. A disease of the eyes preventing him from working with the burin, he executed many frescoes by order of Prince Albert, and published "Fresco Decorations and Stuccoes," etc. (London, 1844), and "Decorations of the Garden Pavilion in the Grounds of Buckingham Palace" (1846), accompanied with a text by Mrs. Jameson. Resuming his labors as an engraver, in 1848 he published " Ornamental Designs for Decorators and Manufacturers," and in 1850 "Specimens of Ornamental Art." He took a part in the decoration of the London crystal palace and in the illustration of Lavard's "Nineveh." His "Raphael Caryatides from the Vatican" appeared in 1852. Between 1854 and 1856 he superintended the decoration of the new wing of Buckingham palace and of Osborn castle.

In 1858 he became director of the society of engravers at Dresden, and professor of engraving at the academy in that place. About the same time he published "The Bass Reliefs on the Facade of the Cathedral at Orvieto."