Franz Joseph Muxel

Façade figure St. Michael, Berg am Laim

Lion at the monument near Bad Abbach (copy by Richard Triebe , head original)

Franz Joseph Muxel (born July 10, 1745 in Bezau , Vorarlberg , † April 26, 1812 in Munich ) was a Bavarian court sculptor of Austrian origin.

Live and act

He was born the son of a miller, first learned the carpentry and came up with about 20 years to become a sculptor in the teaching . His brother Joseph Anton (1749–1814) was also artistically gifted and worked as an art carpenter and wood carver . Franz Joseph Muxel went to Mannheim , Strasbourg and the Netherlands . Finally he came to Munich and worked for Roman Anton Boos , among other things he was involved in the production of the large Hercules wooden sculptures in the Hofgarten arcades .

Franz Joseph Muxel created two larger-than-life lion statues for the lion monument erected in 1794/96 in honor of the Elector Palatinate-Bavarian Elector Karl Theodor on behalf of Count Joseph August von Toerring near Bad Abbach . They were five meters long, two meters high, and weighed over fifteen tons. The sovereign liked them so much that he named the artist court sculptor. The originals were blown up in 1945, but since 1978 there have been two copies of Richard Triebe again , although the heads are from the old statues.

His well-known works also include the figure of the Archangel Michael on the facade of the Hofkirche St. Michael zu Berg am Laim and two marble statues ("Apollo" and "Flora") in the palace gardens of Nymphenburg .

Muxel died in Munich in 1812, leaving behind three sons, Joseph Anton Muxel (1786–1842), Johann Nepomuk Muxel (1790–1870) and Johann Baptist Muxel (1791–1814), who worked as painters .

literature

Hyacinth Holland : Muxel, Franz Joseph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1886, p. 121 f.
Georg Kaspar Nagler : New general artist lexicon , Munich, 1841, volume 10, p. 82 and 83; (Digital scan)
Wilhelm Meusburger: Muxel family of artists , Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz, 1997

Web links

PDF document about personalities from Bezau (place 42)

Individual evidence

^ Mittelbayerische Zeitung: Naturdenkmäler in Bayern: The book for the series of the Mittelbayerische Zeitung , epubli, 2014, ISBN 384429838X , without page number; (Digital scan)

personal data
SURNAME	Muxel, Franz Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Bavarian court sculptor, of Austrian origin
DATE OF BIRTH	July 10, 1745
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bezau
DATE OF DEATH	April 26, 1812
Place of death	Munich

[1] Mittelbayerische Zeitung: Naturdenkmäler in Bayern: The book for the series of the Mittelbayerische Zeitung , epubli, 2014, ISBN 384429838X , without page number; (Digital scan)