Johann Peter Alexander Wagner (c.26 February 1730 – 7 January 1809) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Life

Wagner was born in Theres, Unterfranken,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and was initially trained by his father, Johann Thomas Wagner. In 1747 he took up studies in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

under several another Johann Wagner and

Balthasar Ferdinand Moll Balthasar Ferdinand Moll (Innsbruck, Tirol 4 January 1717 – Vienna 3 March 1785) was an Austrian sculptor. Biography He came from a Tyrolean family of sculptors. His first training was from his father . He went to the Vienna Academy in 1738, ...

. He then moved to

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

and worked under Paul or Augustin Egell. After a visit to France in 1756, he went to

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

Post, Chandler Rathfon. ''A History of European and American Sculpture from the Early Christian Period to the Present Day'', Volume 2, Harvard University Press, 1921, p. 67
/ref> to work under Johann Wolfgang van der Auwera, court sculptor to Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim, Prince–Bishop of Würzburg. Auwera died that same year and Wagner married the widow, Maria Cordula Curé. He also assumed the workshop of his master along with Johann Wolfgang's brother, Lukas von der Auwera. He created several utilitant items over the next several years including a

console table A console table is a table whose top surface is supported by corbels or brackets rather than by the usual four legs. It is thus similar to a supported shelf and is not designed to serve as a stand-alone surface. It is frequently used as pier ta ...

(1759), the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

to the Augustinerkirche, Würzburg (1760), the altar and

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

to the Stadtpfarrkirche of St Maria and St Regiswindis,

Gerolzhofen Gerolzhofen () is a town in the district of Schweinfurt, Bavaria, Germany. The town is the former center of the district of Gerolzhofen and has about 7,000 inhabitants. The mayor of Gerolzhofen is Thorsten Wozniak (CSU). GerolzhofenStadtpfarrkirc ...

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a town#Germany, city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding Schweinfurt (district), district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultur ...

. He collaborated with Lukas von der Auwera between 1763 and 1766 on the Vierröhren Fountain, Würzburg carving the figures. In 1766 he moved on to a purely

aesthetic Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...

work depicting the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

for a church in Kürnach. He continued the trend composing 14 groups of figures for the Wallfahrtskirche Mariae Heimsuchung between 1767 and 1775; the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

begun by Lukas von der Auwera. In December 1771 he became the court sculptor to Prince von Seinsheim, for whom he created several works over the next decade. These works include decorative carvings for the building (primarily staircases) of

Würzburg Residence The Würzburg Residence (German: ''Würzburger Residenz'') is a palace in Würzburg, Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, representatives of the Austrian/Southern German Baroque style, were involved in the construct ...

and exterior statues of

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

and

Proserpina Proserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whos ...

for the park of that palace. He also created statues of the Rape of Europa for a park at the bishop's summer palace,'' Schloss Veitshöchheim''. He became particularly popular during this time and had much continued demand for ecclesiastical work. His work at the ''Klosterkirche'' of Ebrach Abbey, Oberfranken was emulated by those who worked under him for an Augustine 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 Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

bozzetti. He worked primarily in

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

and

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 ...

. His work may be seen in several museums in Würzburg, particularly the Mainfränkisches Museum. He was the father of Johann Martin von Wagner (born 24 June 1777) who trained as a sculptor under him. Johann Peter Alexander Wagner died in Würzburg on 7 January 1809.

Notes

References

Sources

*''The Grove Dictionary of Art''

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Johann Peter Alexander 1730 births 1809 deaths 18th-century German sculptors 18th-century German male artists German male sculptors 19th-century German sculptors Rococo sculptors Catholic sculptors