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The Great Plague of Vienna in 1679 Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach

Artist

Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach Graz 1656 – 1723 Vienna

Culture Austrian
Date ca. 1688
Object type relief
Medium, technique terracotta
Dimensions

24.5 × 18.5 × 2.5 cm, 3 kg
with frame: 28.5 × 23 × 3.5 cm

Inventory number 51.915
Collection Sculptures
On view This artwork is not on display

Johann Fischer was born into a simple family of sculptors in Graz. Thanks to his talent and efforts, he became the leading architect of the Habsburg Empire. The emperor thus ennobled him. His sculptures are less known than his popular architectural works.
The small-scale sculpture in Budapest was a model and pre-study for the Plague Column designed for the Graben, Vienna. Work on the memorial took a long time, and the reliefs, finally carved by Johann Ignaz Bendl (active 1682–ca. 1730) in 1706, were placed on the plague column in Perchtoldsdorf near Vienna. The carved version of the Budapest study can still be seen there.

References

Balogh, Jolán, Katalog der ausländischen Bildwerke des Museums der bildenden Künste in Budapest, IV – XVIII. Jahrhundert: 1. Textband Bd. 1, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1975, p. 241-242., no. 355.

Szmodisné Eszláry, Éva, A Régi Szoborgyűjtemény kincsei, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1994, p. 70.

Szmodisné Eszláry, Éva, The treasures of the Old Sculpture collection, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1994, p. 70.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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