The Bust of Richard Wagner in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, inaugurated in 1983, is dedicated to the Leipzig-born

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

(1813–1883). The design goes back to the Leipzig sculptor

Max Klinger Max Klinger (18 February 1857 – 5 July 1920) was a German artist who produced significant work in painting, sculpture, prints and graphics, as well as writing a treatise articulating his ideas on art and the role of graphic arts and printmakin ...

(1857–1920).

Location and shape

The Bust of Richard Wagner stands in the Promenadenring behind the opera house on the eastern slope of the ''Schwanenteich'' (Swan Pond), looking west. The location can almost be considered slightly hidden. The larger than life bust made of dark

patina Patina ( or ) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze, and similar metals and metal alloys ( tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes), or certain stones and wooden furniture (sheen prod ...

ted

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

is tall and rests on a simple

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

base. This bears the inscription RICHARD WAGNER on the front and MAX KLINGER on the back. On the side, BRONZE NOACK LEIPZIG 1982 indicates the manufacturer. The portrait shows the mature Wagner in classically austere simplicity in a frontal view without any indication of clothing.

History

Neither Max Klinger's efforts from 1903 until the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to create a representative monument to the composer in his birthplace in Leipzig, nor the ambitious plans during the Nazi era to erect a monumental memorial at the Richard Wagner Hain, the southern part of the Palmengarten, were successful. When Wagner's 170th birthday and the 100th anniversary of his death were approaching in 1983, the city decided to find at least a small solution as part of the "Richard Wagner Days of the GDR". Max Klinger had created a Wagner bust made of white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

for the Leipzig Music Room at the 1904 World Exhibition in St. Louis. The original plaster of Paris of the bust was brought to the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig along with two casts from the Klinger estate. One of the

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

casts had already been prepared for bronze casting and was used in 1982 by the Leipzig bronze foundry Noack for the present memorial. The Bust of Richard Wagner is the first completed public memorial to the composer in his birthplace. In the Wagner year of 2013, another Richard Wagner Memorial by Stephan Balkenhol (* 1957) in combination with elements by Max Klinger was erected in Leipzig.

Bibliography

References

External links

* * {{Portal, Germany, Saxony, Visual arts

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

Cultural depictions of Richard Wagner Leipzig Busts in Germany Outdoor sculptures in Germany Max Klinger