Franz Pettrich

Franz Pettrich, portrayed by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein , 1813

Franz Seraph Johann Nepomuk Pettrich even Petrich , Petrick or Bötterich , (* 29. August 1770 in Trebnitz , North Bohemia ; † 23. January 1844 in Dresden ) was a sculptor of Classicism . He is considered to be the most important artist in his field who worked in the kingdom of Saxony during the heyday of this era .

Life

Franz Pettrich's gravestone (oblong gravestone on the left) in the Old Catholic Cemetery in Dresden; behind the tomb he created for his deceased wives

Pettrich was born as the son of a carpenter in what was then Habsburg Bohemia and grew up in the region immediately south of the Bohemian Central Uplands . Until 1787 he completed an apprenticeship with a Leitmeritz stonemason and then went on a journey as a journeyman . His first stop was in Prague , where he worked for a sculptor.

From 1789 he was in Dresden and began studying at the art academy . There he improved his drawing and modeling skills under the guidance of Giovanni Battista Casanova . He was employed in the workshop of the court sculptor Johann Baptist Dorsch and was involved in the design of the kennel . He stood out for his great skills and soon received his first assignments. That is why Pettrich set up his own workshop. As early as 1795 he was appointed court sculptor by Elector Friedrich August III.

Supported by the elector, Pettrich went on a long trip to Italy in the autumn of 1801 with his then student Christian Gottlieb Kühn . In June 1802 he arrived in Rome , the center of sculpture at the time , and together with Bertel Thorvaldsen learned how to work marble from Antonio Canova . Pettrich left Rome in 1803 and returned to Dresden in 1805.

Due to the Wars of Liberation , he only resumed his artistic activities permanently after the Peace of Paris . On December 6, 1815, Franz Pettrich was appointed to the chair for sculpture at the Dresden Art Academy. He remained in this position until his death. From 1823 one of his students was the sculptor Ernst Rietschel .

In his first marriage Pettrich was married to Karoline Dittrich from Bautzen . From this relationship, in addition to two daughters, the son Ferdinand Pettrich (1798–1872) emerged, who learned from his father and also became a sculptor. The older of the two daughters later married the Dresden sculptor Christoph Neuhäuser . In his second marriage, Pettrich was married to Juliane Gottschall from Dresden, from whom he had another daughter. Both wives died early.

Pettrich was a member of the Dresden Freemasons' lodge to the golden apple . He was buried in the Old Catholic Cemetery in Dresden-Friedrichstadt .

Works

Pettrich created Giovanni Battista Casanova's grave in the Old Catholic Cemetery in Dresden-Friedrichstadt .

This relief of Apollo with his kithara on a stone slab at Johann Gottlieb Naumann's grave in Dresden's Elias cemetery is probably a work of Pettrich.

Gravestone at the Church of St. Bartholomew in Velký Šenov

Pettrich's works include various sculptures , sculptures , reliefs , in particular statues , busts and other monuments. He created especially numerous grave monuments . However, his work is only partially preserved. Franz Pettrich's work was primarily concentrated on Dresden and the north of Bohemia , especially the Bohemian Netherlands . Rather the exception was his work in other regions of Germany, for example his monument to the Duchesses Helena Paulowna and Louise in Ludwigslust in Mecklenburg or several tombs in Silesia . Pettrich's personal estate of drawings and models of all shapes is scattered in various collections.

Saxony

In Saxony , especially in the former royal seat of Dresden, there are several architectural monuments that have been decorated with sculptural works by Franz Pettrich. For example, on the gable of the riding hall of the former Dresden Marstall, directly behind the Zwinger, there is a large sandstone relief showing an ancient pair of horses . Pettrich created a Mars figure on the gable of the Altstädtische Hauptwache facing towards the Semperoper . Outside the city center, the Hauptmann Hirsch monument on the Heller, reminiscent of a riding accident, and two reliefs on the old court gardener's house in Wachwitz , go back to him. He was responsible for the arched reliefs at Bautzner Strasse 96 on the converted former farm buildings of Count Camillo Marcolini's Vorwerk .

He contributed grave sculptures to various Dresden cemeteries . These include monuments on the Elias cemetery , including the grave of Johann Gottlieb Naumann and the Johannis cemetery in Tolkewitz . In the Inner Neustädter Friedhof in the Leipzig suburbs , he created tombs, for example, for General Christiani from 1805 and for Julie Vogel, the first wife of Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein . In the Old Catholic Cemetery , the tombs of Johann Alois Schneider , Minister of War Zinzendorf and Giovanni Battista Casanovas, as well as the sarcophagus for his two wives who died prematurely, with a depiction of a sleeping woman, go back to Franz Pettrich.

From time to time Pettrich also designed sculptural works in other parts of Saxony. In the Pirna City Museum , for example, there is a tomb for the Leyhn family of manufacturers from 1819/1820. On the Annaberg Trinitatis cemetery there is a tomb by Pettrich for Barbara Uthmann, consecrated in 1834 . In Schirgiswalde there is another tomb at the church there, which was completed in 1809.

Bohemia

Tomb of Veronika Römisch and her child in the old churchyard near the Maria Magdalenen Church in Schönlinde ( Krásná Lípa ), created in 1814.

In the Bohemian Netherlands , also known as the Schluckenauer Zipfel , Pettrich showed great creative power, especially in Schönlinde . In the baroque church there, a life-size crucifix with adoring angels in cast metal from 1818 as well as the design for the main altar go back to him; in the neighboring cemetery he created six artistically valuable tombs. Pettrich designed a baptismal font for the town church in nearby Rumburg . He furnished the old cemetery in Groß Schönau with seven tombs. A crucifix in the cemetery chapel in his birthplace Trebnitz goes back to Pettrich as well as the designs for three altars and the pulpit in Hainspach . The grave of Prince Joseph Xavier Karl Raphael Philipp Benno von Sachsen or von der Lausitz (1767–1802) (son of Franz Xaver von Sachsen ) in the old cemetery next to the parish church of St. Peter and Paul in Ossegg is also a work by Franz Pettrich. In 1825, Pettrich designed and decorated the Waldstein Chapel in Oberleutensdorf, which was built for Franz Adam von Waldstein-Wartenberg .

literature

• Pettrich, Franz . In: Herders Conversations-Lexikon . Volume 4. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1856, p. 510.
• Constantin von Wurzbach : Petrich, also Pettrich, Franz . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 22nd part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1870, pp. 113–115 ( digitized version ).
• Rudolf Müller:  Pettrich, Franz Johann . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 25, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, pp. 541-544.
• Pettrich, Franz . In: Meyers Konversationslexikon . 4th edition. 17. Supplementary volume. Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig and Vienna 1890, p. 657.
• Hans Geller: Franz and Ferdinand Pettrich. Two Saxon sculptors from the classicism period . In: Research on Saxon art history. Volume 5, Dresden 1955.

Web links

Commons : Franz Pettrich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Portrait of Pettrich , created in 1813 by court painter Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein ; deutschefotothek.de
• Franz Pettrich . In: Stadtwiki Dresden (Review on the 175th anniversary of death on January 23, 2019)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pettrich's first names are mentioned in different orders in the sources. In the artist directory of the Deutsche Fotothek he is noted as "Johann Franz Seraph Nepomuk Pettrich" (see page no longer available , search in web archives: deutschefotothek.de ). Johann Gottfried Klinsky called him “Franz Seraph Johann Nepomuk Pettrich” in 1799 (cf. zs.thulb.uni-jena.de ). His nickname was "Franz"; "Franz Seraph Pettrich" is written on his tombstone (cf. deutschefotothek.de ). In Czech sources he appears under the name "František Josef Petrick" (cf. velkysenov.cz ).
2. ↑ In German sources, his surname is usually given as "Pettrich", in Czech sources, however, as "Petrick". There is also the German form “Bötterich”. According to the Czech website velkysenov.cz , the name "Pettrich" is the Germanized form of the Czech "Petříček". The family therefore called themselves first "Poettrick", then "Petrick" and finally "Pettrich", so that the Czech source finally gives his son's name as "Pettrich".
3. ↑ Ernst Rietschel's biography. In: ernst-rietschel.com. Ernst-Rietschel-Kulturring eV, accessed on February 3, 2014 . 
4. ↑ Inner suburbs old town: Wilsdruffer Vorstadt [electoral stables, riding hall]. In: Dresden-und-Sachsen.de. Retrieved February 3, 2014 . 
5. ↑ Theaterplatz area [Altstädter Wache (Schinkelwache)]. In: Dresden-und-Sachsen.de. Retrieved February 3, 2014 . 
6. ↑ Landscape and hiking: Wachwitzer Königsweg (red marking). Local association Loschwitz-Wachwitz e. V., accessed on February 3, 2014 . 
7. ↑ Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741–1801) (accessed April 29, 2019)
8. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: artnet.de (English)
9. ↑ Inner Neustädter Friedhof. In: dresdner-stadtteile.de. Retrieved February 3, 2014 . 
10. ↑ Inner Catholic Cemetery. In: dresdner-stadtteile.de. Retrieved February 3, 2014 . 
11. ↑ Friedenspark, formerly Nicolaifriedhof. (No longer available online.) In: pirna-altstadt.de. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013 ; Retrieved February 3, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ The monument to Barbara Uttmann in the Annaberg cemetery . In: Saxonia . Saxon Patriotic Museum, No. 13, 1837, p. 70
13. ↑ Zajímavosti for kroniky města. Město Velký Šenov (City of Groß Schönau), accessed on February 3, 2014 (Czech). 
14. ^ Auto, Moto - automobile travel guide through the Middle Ore Mountains. (No longer available online.) In: Most - Official city website. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016 ; Retrieved February 3, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.