GERNIAN SCULPTURE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Time was when Germany had a great and absolutely original school of sculpture, and, if less classical, scarcely less instinct with genius, than that of Greece. In the Cathedral of Strasburg is a group which is full of fine feeling and artistic merit, representing the Deal/i of the (pt. 2). This relief was long attributed to Christina, daughter of the architect of the cathedral, Erwin von Steinbach; later investiga tion, however, assigns the work to a woman named Savina—one of the very few women who have reached excellence in this department.
At Innsbruck is a group of colossal statues, by Peter Vischer and several local artists now forgotten, which are among the finest productions of the plastic art since Praxiteles. (See p. S6.) Notable among them is a truly ideal statue of King Arthur. The statue of Theodorie is also a very fine conception (fig. 1_1). Every one has heard of the extraordi nary achievements of the Vischer family at Nuremberg—among them, the famous Tomb of St. Sebald (fig. 9). Indeed, the number of excellent sculptors who everywhere illustrated the Germanic genius for sculpture —many of whom arc forgotten, while their works remain—leads to the conclusion that in the Middle Ages the art of Germany was even greater in sculpture than in painting.
of Seipp are in the SerrnIcenTh while abun dance of fine sculpture was produced in the mediaeval period, only here and there subsequently have the numerous German sculptors created any examples to indicate their descent from the men of genius who immortal ize German art-history previous to the eighteenth century. Not that we would deny that much meritorious and beautiful work has been executed since then, but it has generally lacked that vital spark of genius, that sacred fire, which leads to the creation of original works rather than to the imitation, however clever, of other schools.
Awireas &I/Mier, born in 1662 and died in 1714, was one of the greatest sculptors of Germany, but could not arrest the declining course of German sculpture which began in the seventeenth century. In the first half of the eighteenth century there was absolutely nothing pro duced in Germany to suggest the activity and success she had once exhibited in the plastic arts, but an awakening began about r7 so, and since that period no country has had a larger number of sculptors than Germany. They have embellished her palaces and beautified her capitals
and have sometimes exhibited great talent, but only a limited number have evinced originality and power.
The bronze equestrian statue of the great elector of Brandenburg (N. fi,T. in) who laid the foundation-stone of the new German empire was cuted by Schliiter for the monument of the elector upon the bridge leading to the Berlin palace, and is justly considered the masterpiece of this artist. Schliiter understood the proper relation of an equestrian statue to its pedestal. In the elector's powerful personality there is a fulness of vitality and of concentrated energy. The hero, whose hand curbs a Frisian war-horse, wears the dress of a Roman general and gazes with eagle glance commandingly into the distance. In contrast to the might of dominion embodied in the prince are the chained figures placed upon the pedestal—the reverse of the absolutism which was then considered justifiable and necessary.
The Revival of German Sculpture began with a strong tendency toward the study and imitation of classic or Greek art—a tendency exhibited to this time, with a few exceptions. The sculpture of the Middle Ages was entirely German; that of recent times is Grceco-German. Those who prefer the latter are inclined to consider the former barbarous. The two are so different in spirit that only the most catholic minds are able to acknowledge the merits of both; the former, however, was the more original, and therefore is destined to outlive the other.
Johann Gottfried, born in 1764 and died in 185o, was one of the first of the new period whose names are worthy of preservation here. As the dates of his long life indicate, he is identified with the revival of German sculpture and he contributed to the brilliant successes it has reached in the present century. His best works consist of portrait-figures modelled in the spirit of classic sculpture.