- Johann Peter Alexander Wagner
Johann Peter Alexander Wagner (
26 February 1730 1–7 January 1809 ) was a Germanrococo sculptor. He was born inObertheres ,Unterfranken ,Bavaria ,Germany and was initially trained by his father,Johann Thomas Wagner . He moved toVienna in 1747 and worked under several commissioners including another Johann Wagner andBalthasar Ferdinand Moll ; after which he moved toMannheim and worked underPaul Egell orAugustin Egell . He entered under the court sculptorJohann Wolfgang von der Auwera toPrince–Bishop of Würzburg around 1756 who died that year—Wagner then took his master's widow as his bride, she was namedMaria Cordula Curé (daughter ofClaude Curé ). He also assumed the workshop of his master along with abrother-in-law ,Lukas von der Auwera .He created several
utilitant items over the next several years including aconsole table (1759), thealtar to theAugustinerkirche ,Würzburg (1760), the altar andbaptismal font to theStadtpfarrkirche of St Maria and St Regiswindis ,Gerolzhofen ,Schweinfurt . He collaborated withLukas von der Auwera between 1763 and 1766 on theVierröhren Fountain , Würzburg carving the figures. In 1766 he moved onto a purelyaesthetic work depicting theCrucifixion for a church inKürnach . He continued the trend composing 14 groups of figures for theWallfahrtskirche Mariae Heimsuchung between 1767 and 1775 which were theStations of the Cross .In December 1771 he became the
court sculptor toAdam Friedrich von Seinsheim, Prince–Bishop of Würzburg for whom he created several works over the next decade. These works include decorative carvings for the building (primarily staircases) at the Residenz inWürzburg and exterior statues of Pluto andProserpina for the same residence. He also created statues of theRape of Europa for a park atSchloss Veitshöchheim . He became particularly popular during this time and had much continued demand for ecclesiastical work. His work at the Klosterkirche atEbrach ,Oberfranken was emulated by those who worked under him for anAugustine monastery .His style changed during his career from rococo to classical upon his assumption of the position of court sculptor, and finally back to rococo. 1790 saw him at his most classical in a life-size statue of the Virgin. He worked by first making a sketch, a detailed drawing, and conceptual
clay bozzetti . He worked primarily inclay ,wood andmarble . His work may be seen in several museums in Würzburg, particularly theMainfränkisches Museum . He fatheredJohann Martin von Wagner on24 June 1777 who trained as a sculptor under him. He died in Würzburg on the7 January 1809 .References
*Article in "The Grove Dictionary of Art"
Notes
#Date of baptism
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