Christoph Walther IV

Christoph Walther (* 1572 in Dresden , † 1626 ibid ) was a German sculptor of the Renaissance. To distinguish it from other active artists of the same name such as Christoph Walther I (sculptor, 1493 to 1546), Christoph Walther II (sculptor, 1534 to 1584) and Christoph Walther III (painter, 1550 to 1592) he is called Christoph Walther IV or Christoph Walther IV. Designated.

Live and act

Portal of the Kreuzkirche around 1630, detail of the former Kreuzkirche in Dresden by Bernardo Bellotto (Canaletto)

He comes from a family of artists and was the third son of the sculptor Christoph Walther II . Like his brothers Andreas Walther III (1560 to 1596), Michael Walther (1574 to 1624) and Sebastian Walther (1576 to 1645), he learned the craft of sculpting. Growing up in Dresden, he worked in the family sculptor's workshop on Terrassenstrasse 12. In 1598 he received the citizenship of the city of Dresden. He worked for the Saxon court and created figures, epitaphs , tombs and altars made of sandstone , marble and alabaster in and around Saxony .

Around 1606 he worked with the Swiss sculptor Giovanni Maria Nosseni according to his specifications on the famous Nosseni altar for the Dresden Sophienkirche . This altar was badly damaged by the bombing raids on Dresden in 1945 . After the church collapsed, it was partially recovered from under the rubble. Over 350 preserved figural parts and fragments formed the basis for the reconstruction that began in 1998 . In the Loschwitz church , the eleven-meter high Nosseni altar was re-erected and solemnly consecrated on October 6, 2002.

In 1612 he founded a sculpture guild in Dresden with the sculptors Christoph Abraham Walther , Giovanni Maria Nosseni, Sebastian Walther, Michael Walther, Jacob Bagenin, Zacharias Berholdt and Hans Stilling . As a result of the Thirty Years' War , he received few commissions, which severely impaired his sculptural work.

Works (selection

Nosseni altar in the Loschwitz church

• 1589: plastic and figurative jewelry on the portal of the Dresden Kreuzkirche with brother-in-law Melchior Jobst
• 1605: Figures of Paul and Peter for the Nosseni altar of the Dresden Sophienkirche
• 1606: Figures of Maria and Johannes for the crucifixion group of the Nosseni altar of the Dresden Sophienkirche
• 1606: Figure of the risen Christ , Nosseni altar of the Dresden Sophienkirche
• 1613: Epitaph for Marcus Gerstenberger , Dresden Kreuzkirche

literature

Walther, Christoph IV, Entombment of Christ. Relief from epitaph Marcus Gerstenberger, Kreuzkirche

• Heinrich Magirius : The Nosseni altar from the Sophienkirche in Dresden. Publishing house of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-7776-1326-6 .
• Ernst Sigismund : Walther, Christoph IV . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 35 : Libra-Wilhelmson . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1942, p. 114 .
• Handbook of German Art Monuments - Dresden . Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich / Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-422-03110-3 , pp. 29 and 179.
• Fritz Löffler : The old Dresden: history of its buildings . Verlag VEB EA Seemann, Leipzig 1987, ISBN 3865020003 , p. 480.
• Walter Hentschel : Dresden sculptors of the 16th and 17th centuries , Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Successor, Weimar 1966.
• Fritz Löffler: Bernardo Bellotto - Canaletto , Dresden in the 18th century, Koehler & Amelang publishing house, Leipzign2. Edition 1988, ISBN 3-7338-0048-6 . P. 60 ff.
• Daniel Jacob: Sculpture Guide Dresden: From Aphrodite to Zwillingsbrunnen , ISBN 3942098059 , p. 50.