Bow Tensioner (Bydgoszcz)
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| The bow-tensioner |
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| Ferdinand Lepcke , 1910 |
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Bronze , 175 cm × 105 cm × 35 cm |
| Bydgoszcz , Poland |
The Arch Tensioner ( Łuczniczka in Polish ) is a cast made in 1910 by the arch tensioner modeled in 1905/06 by the Berlin sculptor Ferdinand Lepcke . It is now in the Jan Kochanowski Park in Bydgoszcz (then Bromberg in the Prussian province of West Prussia ), the original location was next to the city theater . The sculpture is one of the oldest preserved in the city and is considered one of the most expressive symbols of Bydgoszcz.
description
The bronze cast statue was designed by the German artist Ferdinand Lepcke. The work of art portrays a young woman, bare except for Roman sandals , who draws a bow . The archer has classic proportions and an athletic body. She is 175 cm tall, 77 cm at the waist and 105 cm at the hips. Including the granite base , the figure is 210 cm high, 128 cm wide and 35 cm deep.
It is not transmitted, who for the statue model has confessed. The press and literature suspect that it could be a friend of Heinrich Seeling , the founder of the former municipal theater, or an image of Julia, the daughter of the patron Louis Aronsohn . It is also assumed that Lepcke's model, which is not known any further, served as a template.
history
Lepcke probably created the figure in 1905/06. It is considered to be one of his last works before he died of pneumonia on March 13, 1909, at the age of 43 . The sculpture was exhibited in Munich and Berlin and received with great interest by experts, visitors and the press. Several journals published pictures of the statue. In 1910 the German Society for Art and Science exhibited an 80 cm miniature version made of plaster in Bromberg. The locally based banker , philanthropist and honorary citizen Louis Aronsohn spontaneously bought a life-size cast of the sculpture and decided to finance the actual work of art worth 7,500 marks .
The then incumbent mayor of Bromberg, Hugo Wolff, turned to the brother of the deceased artist to purchase "the original" of the statue. Since Lepcke had designed the deluge fountain , which was built in 1904 in Kasimir-der-Große-Park, the sculptor and Wolff had been on friendly terms. The statue arrived in Bromberg on August 26, 1910, and was officially unveiled on Aronsohn's 60th birthday on October 18, 1910. Initially, the statue stood on a pedestal in the middle of a flower bed on Theaterplatz next to the city theater. The archer aimed at the side wall of the theater parallel to the bridge.
In the society of newly founded Poland after the First World War , a naked figure caused heated discussions within the city, as did in Berlin, where a bronze salute of the sculpture was erected in 1908. On religious holidays, the statue was covered or clothed so as not to distract the processionists. One of the strongest opponents of the neoclassical figure was the then 20-year-old film actress Pola Negri , who had bought a house in the city for her mother in the 1920s.
In 1928, a resolution by the city council calling for the sculpture to be dismantled failed. Instead, a statue of Jesus Christ should be erected, as there was a monastery and a church of the Roman Carmelite Order in the square . The discussion calmed down when the mayor of Poznań , Cyryl Ratajski, suggested purchasing the bow-tensioner for his city, provided that an invoice could be issued. The work of art remained, but was moved further to Theaterplatz and towards the river so that there was no direct eye contact with the townspeople.
The German troops moved the statue to its original location near the street in 1939, where it remained until 1945. In January 1945, when the city was conquered by the Red Army and the Polish People's Army , the figure was slightly damaged by gunshots in the back, hands and feet, but survived the fire set by the Red Army and the destruction of the city theater unscathed. In 1948 the local sculptor Piotr Triebler restored the statue.
In 1955 it was moved to a square next to the District Museum on Gdańska Street and in 1960 to Jan Kochanowski Park in front of the Polish Theater . The plan was to rebuild the Freedom Monument from Freedom Square ( Plac Wolności ) on Theater Square, but this plan was not implemented and so the arch-tensioner was able to remain at her current central location. In 1987 and 1990 the figure and the arrow were cleaned of corrosion .
On April 19, 2013, on the occasion of the 667th anniversary of city rights, the new statue Archer Nova , which is based on the arch tensioner , was unveiled on the square in front of the main entrance of the Opera Nova . The figure created by Maciej Jagodziński-Jagenmeer from Toruń stands on a ball, the head is slightly tilted, the eyes are closed and the athletic body is tilted backwards. The bronze figure is coated with chrome, has a weight of 200 kg, is 1.8 m high and thus towers over the arch tensioner by 5 cm.
Artistic perception
The Bogenspannerin applies, according to critics of the interwar well as a work of great artistic beauty. The journalist Wojciech Rzeźniacki wrote in the 1930s: “[…] The bow tensioner is a unique work of art. The way to draw the viewer's attention to the illusionary target of the arrow - speaks the artist freely, although he does not hesitate to present his modern Artemis in all its naked beauty. The tension in the muscles does not reduce the charm of their figure. On the contrary: The posture with which the bow-tensioner draws the bow enabled the artist to develop the noble harmony and symmetry of the statue. "
The motif of the archer is found in many literary works by local writers, artists and photographers.
Landmarks of Bydgoszcz
Today the figure is one of the most important landmarks of Bydgoszcz. It is used on the city's postage stamps, badges, and publications. Replicas of the bow tensioner are distributed to participants in city competitions, events and festivals. The sports and exhibition hall newly built in 2002 was named Łuczniczka . The American football team Bydgoszcz Archers refers to the statue in its club name.
gallery
literature
- Jerzy Derenda: Bydgoszcz w blasku symboli (= Bydgoszcz miasto na Kujawach. Volume 2). Towarzystwo Miłośników Miasta Bydgoszczy, Bydgoszcz 2008, ISBN 978-83-916178-0-9 .
- Piotr Winter, Jerzy Derenda: Bydgoska Łuczniczka i jej copy. Towarzystwo Miłośników Miasta Bydgoszczy, Bydgoszcz 1996, ISBN 8-3903-2314-1 ( title recording and online version in Kujawsko-Pomorska digital library).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Piotr Winter, Jerzy Derenda: Bydgoska Łuczniczka i jej copy . In: Biblioteka Bydgoska . tape 2 . Towarzystwo Miłośników Miasta Bydgoszczy, Bydgoszcz 1996, ISBN 83-903231-4-1 (Polish).
- ↑ Nicky Heise: Ferdinand Lepcke (1866-1909) . Monograph and catalog raisonné. Art collections of the Veste Coburg, Coburg 2012, ISBN 978-83-63572-92-1 , p. 199–210 (German, Polish, exhibition catalog).
- ↑ a b Błażejewski Stanisław, Kutta Janusz, Romaniuk Marek: Bydgoski Słownik Biograficzny . tape 6 . Kujawsko-Pomorskie Tow. Kulturalne, Bydgoszcz 2000, ISBN 83-8532758-4 , p. 61-62 (Polish).
- ↑ Rzeźniacki Wojciech: Przechadzki po Bydgoszczy (walks in the vicinity of Bydgoszcz) . Bydgoszcz 1938.
Coordinates: 53 ° 7 ′ 50 ″ N , 18 ° 0 ′ 44 ″ E