Paul Strudel

Paul Strudel or Paul Strudl (circa 1648 in Cles (Trentino) - 20 November 1708 in Vienna) was an Austrian sculptor, architect, engineer, and painter, ennobled as "Baron von Strudel" and Vochburg. "Landesmuseum Niederösterreich - Geschichte/Personen - Paul Strudel" (history), "Landesmuseum Niederösterreich" (lower Austria), 2006, Geschichte.Landesmuseum.net: [http://geschichte.landesmuseum.net/personen/personendetail.asp?id=1409601979 LMN-PaulStrudel] .]

As a sculptor in the Hofburg, Paul Strudel worked creating statues with his younger brother, Peter Strudel.

Life

In 1648, Paul Strudel was born, as would be his younger brothers, Peter and Dominik, in the "Val di Non" in South Tyrol, alleged in Cles, where his father Jakob worked as a sculptor. Paul learned with his father and with Johann Carl Loth in Venice. In 1684, he came to Vienna, where he made three statues for the Prince of Liechtenstein; his high remuneration casued the envy of his German colleagues at that time.

Paul Strudel came in 1686 to the Hofburg court in Vienna and obtained employment as a Court painter. Translated from German Wikipedia article: .] Mostly he co-operated with his brother Peter Strudel. His work marks the transition of Austria to the high baroque; however, Strudel captured the style of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The most important works of Paul Strudel are the large statues from white marble for the ancestor gallery of the Habsburgs. In 1696, he received the statuary order from Emperor Leopold I, on the condition to deliver, every three years, two figures. Up to his death, he had delivered 16 figures: the remaining 15 (of the total 31) statues were created by his younger brother.

Apart from numerous orders for the Hofburg, above all, the plague column is remarkable from its sculptural work, which developed under his line in the years 1686 to 1693. The prince of Liechtenstein, Prince-Bishop Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein, assigned Strudel to create some monumental statues for his Moravian palaces in Valtice and Lednice.

There at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the taste in art changed, and it was notpossible for the Hofburg Court Architect Giovanni Pietro Tencalla () to introduce Paul Strudel (or his brother Peter Strudel) as his successor. The German building master Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt from Genoa was preferred over the Strudel brothers.

At the age of approximately 60 years, Paul Strudel died on 20 November 1708 in Vienna.

Works

* 1699 - Statues of the Habsburg rulers in the dome area of the Imperial Library, "Hofbibliothek".
* 1700 - Statues of the Habsburg rulers in Schloss Laxenburg.

See also

* Hofburg Imperial Palace - describes buildings with statues by Paul Strudel.

Notes

References

* Vest, Manfred: "The Strudel Brothers: Court artist and founder of the Viennese academy of arts", Innsbruck: Tyrolia, 1993, ISBN 3-7022-1830-0.