Zprávy památkové péče 2017, 77(1-2):47-56

Baroque sculptures in the Silesian countryside. Between local creation and imports

Jaromír Olšovský

Katedra dějin umění a kulturního dědictví FF OSU

The article characterizes the share of sculpture works in the character of the rural landscape in Silesia, particularly in the western part of Austrian Silesia during the Baroque period. Even though there was no lack of noble aristocratic residences here, often with Baroque gardens, we can assume sculptural decorations existed here, although almost nothing survived up to the present from this fund of sculptures. One exception is a collection of mythological and allegorical sculptures (from the castle garden in Brantice, now in the collections of the Silesian Museum) of exceptional sculptural quality, created by an unknown sculptor from the circle of Dresden's Balthasar Permoser. It was perhaps intended for the garden of the proposed princely residence of Lichtenstein, the princes of Opava and Krnov, but which was not realized. High-quality sculptural works embellished the large landscaped Anglo-Chinese type park extending around the ancestral castle of Albert Josef of Hodice and Volframice in Slezské Rudoltice. None of them survived, although we are at least generally aware of their character. Even though the Silesian countryside, in comparison with other regions, is rather scarce in impressive sculptures set in the open countryside, concerning sculptural realizations it rather consists of individual works of varied quality, either Marian statues or statues of saints that became part of the landscape identity in the later 18th century. The characteristic feature of the landscape in a broader sense was also contributed to the statues of local churches and chapels, most of which originated in the 18th century, often in the 1770's and 1780's. Specific examples include various types of sculptural tasks that sculptors were assigned by religious or secular investors, from erecting statues of saints on village greens or in front of local churches and chapels, to furnishing local churches with statues and building Marian and Holy Trinity columns on the squares of Silesian towns. Although there was no lack of capable and high-quality local sculptors in this part of Austrian Silesia, given the weakness of the area's sculptural tradition, sculptors were often called in from the surrounding areas, especially from the neighboring Moravian and Silesian territory which belonged to the Prussian State from the 1740's. The domestic sculptors who were able to undertake such large sculpture orders included primarily Johann Georg Lehner from Opava, Sebald Kappler from Bruntál, Christian Keller from Skorošice, and Johann Nitsche from Opava, which whose works we frequently encounter throughout the Silesian countryside. The work of sculptors from Moravia or the (already Prussian) Silesia, such as Ondřej Schweigl, Leopold Wilhelm Jaschke, and Johann Nepomuk Hartmann, are often encountered while wandering the countryside in areas close to the Prussian-Austrian border (Opavice, Javorník).

Keywords: Baroque landscape, Baroque statue, Silesia, Ondřej Schweigl, Johann Nepomuk Hartmann

Published: March 1, 2017  Show citation