Franz Woltreck

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Franz Woltreck, drawn by August Lucas , Rome 1836

Franz Woltreck (born August 20, 1800 in Zerbst , † December 5, 1847 in Dessau ) was a German sculptor.

Life

In the church register of the Trinity Church in Zerbst, Franz Woltreck is listed as the son of the married couple Johann Friedrich Woltreck and Sophie Friederike Woltreck, née Vollroth; however, there is also the theory that he was a natural son of Duke Leopold III. from Anhalt-Dessau was. In his childhood, inspired by the warlike times of 1813, he carved soldiers and horsemen and covered them with colored paper. He was apprenticed to a so-called metal worker, where he learned to make vessels and decorations in gold, silver and brass, which led to the decision to learn how to draw and model properly in Vienna . Woltreck set out there after completing his apprenticeship. However, he only got as far as Kassel , where he auditioned for Werner Henschel and became his pupil. In 1823 he was awarded a silver medal at the Academy in Kassel. Leopold IV. Friedrich von Anhalt supported him from 1824 with 200 Reichstalers annually. From 1826 this sum was doubled after Alexander von Humboldt had advocated it.

In October 1824 Woltreck went to Paris . There he worked as a stucco worker for the decoration company Borchardt & Thierry and trained in drawing with Eustache-Hyacinthe Langlois . André Dutertre introduced him and later his younger brother Friedrich to the acquaintance of Pierre Jean David d'Angers , who taught him modeling without asking for payment. Woltreck fell ill in Paris in 1829, and returned to Germany in 1830. The following year he worked in Berlin , where, among other things, he modeled portrait medallions for the court. In autumn 1831 he traveled to Florence via Munich . After falling ill again, he reached Rome in January 1832.

Franz Woltreck was acquainted with Bertel Thorvaldsen , whom he portrayed in 1833. In the years 1836 and 1837 he stayed in Munich. Among other things, he created two busts for the Valhalla there , as well as many portrait medallions. During his time in Munich he also taught Octavie de Lasalle, born in 1811 .

In autumn 1837 he traveled back to Dessau via Dresden ; the following year he stayed in Köthen , Potsdam and Weimar , among others . He spent Christmas Eve 1838 in the Goethe house. Portraits of Ottilie von Goethe and Johann Peter Eckermann date from this period , as well as a replica of the head of the dog Brunhilde, a companion of the Crown Prince, who died in 1839. This replica was made of cast zinc and attached to the south side of the pergola of Charlottenhof Palace , where it survived until 1977 and was then stolen.

Woltreck was back in Munich by April 1839, where he created a bust for the Walhalla. Then he went back to Paris. He portrayed Samuel Hahnemann in a life-size bust. In the summer of 1840 he went to Carrara . In the following years he stayed alternately in Rome and Carrara. From May 1847, Franz Woltreck was - according to Wilhelm Hosäus as a result of a stroke - paralyzed and mentally ill.

Works

Bust of the painter Hans Memling , in the Walhalla near Regensburg (1841)

Woltreck's goal had been to create a collection of portraits of famous contemporaries in bronze. This should be housed in the library of Wörlitz Castle. However, the majority of these portraits were only designed in plaster and, after initially being kept in Kühnau Castle near Dessau, later came to the State Museum in Zerbst . The State Coin Collection in Munich took over 17 bronze casts of the medallions designed in 1836/37. Woltreck also created a skin relief for the church in Dessau that depicts the union of Christian denominations with life-size figures.

literature

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Rudolf Marggraff (Hrsg.): Munich year books for fine arts. Volume 1, Leipzig 1838, pp. 321-323.
  2. ^ Christian Schröder: Poor welfare and Catholic identity. South Baden and the Saar region in historical comparison (1803–1870). Lit Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-643-12020-5 , p. 300 f.
  3. ^ Yearbook of the Goethe Society. 15, 1929, p. 218.
  4. ↑ Margret Dorothea Minkels: The founders of the New Museum Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and Elisabeth von Baiern. BoD, Norderstedt 2011, ISBN 978-3-8448-0212-2 , p. 221, note 1174.
  5. ↑ The sources contradict each other and alternately name Memling and Hemling as the one depicted.
  6. ↑ Wilhelm Hosäus: A manual for visitors to the Wörlitzer garden and the Wörlitz art collections. C. Dünnhaupt 1883, p. 92.
personal data
SURNAME Woltreck, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH August 20, 1800
PLACE OF BIRTH Zerbst
DATE OF DEATH December 5, 1847
Place of death Dessau