Friedrich Wilhelm Mengelberg
Friedrich Wilhelm Mengelberg (born October 18, 1837 in Cologne , † February 6, 1919 in Utrecht ) was a German-Dutch sculptor .
Life
Mengelberg was the son of the Cologne wood turner Johann Edmund Egidius Mengelberg. Like his grandfather Egidius Mengelberg and his uncle Otto Mengelberg , he turned to the fine arts at an early age. At the age of eighteen he, like his father baptized Protestant, converted to Catholicism, his grandfather's creed. He studied at his grandfather's "Mengelberg School of Drawing" and with the Cologne sculptor Christoph Stephann (1797–1864). While the training at the grandfather's drawing school was initially still based on classicism , in 1849 a pioneer of historicism, namely neo-Gothic , took over with the new director Friedrich von Schmidt the school and opened it to the study of medieval art.
After graduating from drawing school, Mengelberg founded a sculpture workshop in Cologne. There he met the church art historian and Aachen chaplain Franz Bock (1823–1899), who further promoted his interest in Gothic art. In 1865 he handed over the Cologne workshop to his brother Otto (1841–1891) and went to Aachen . Probably mediated by Bock, he received the order to manufacture a bishop's chair for the Catherine Cathedral in Utrecht in 1868, the execution of which was so well received that Mengelberg was asked by the client to settle in Utrecht, where he moved in 1869.
Mengelberg joined the St. Bernulphus Guild in Utrecht , which as a group of Catholic clergy around the chaplain GW van Heukelum (1834–1910) aimed to preserve national tradition and expertise in religious art and architecture. The medieval native styles and the use of native materials such as brick were particularly important here. Through the guild he also met the architect Alfred Tepe , with whom he mainly worked and who also built the house in which Mengelberg lived from 1872 until his death. His studio in Utrecht prospered and by 1890 already had 32 employees. His employees included the sculptor Hubert Ludwig Jungblut (1852–1929), who was already working for Mengelberg in Aachen and who contributed numerous designs for the workshop. Together with Tepe, Mengelberg had a lasting impact on neo-Gothic Catholic church building in the Netherlands in the 19th century. The church buildings he was involved in include St. Michael in Schalkwijk , St. Katharina and Willibrord in Utrecht and St. Nikolaus in IJsselstein . Mengelberg's high altars can be found, for example, in the Krijtberg Church in Amsterdam , in St. Vitus in Hilversum , in the Church of Our Lady in Zwolle and in St. Pankratius in 's-Heerenberg .
Mengelberg maintained his contacts with the Rhineland for life, for example with the art historian and collector Alexander Schnütgen . In 1888 Mengelberg won the competition for the design of the bronze cladding for the doors of the central portal on the north side of Cologne Cathedral , which were carried out according to his design. Mengelberg also made the Three Kings Altar, the Way of the Cross and a few other pieces in the cathedral. In 1898 he created the tendrils for wing paintings that Heinrich Nüttgens painted for the St. Anne's Altar in the Imperial Cathedral in Frankfurt am Main.
Mengelberg's marriage to Wilhelmina Anna Helena Schrattenholz in 1866 resulted in eight sons and eight daughters. The eldest son Otto Mengelberg (1867–1924) became an important glass painter, the sons Joseph (1874–1940) and Hans (1885–1945) worked in the father's business and continued it after his death. Mengelberg's son Willem (1871–1951) became an internationally renowned conductor.
In 1896 he created the high altar and confessional in the neo-Gothic style for the St. Mary's Conception Church in Düsseldorf.
Web links
- Biography on www.inghist.nl (Dutch)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexander Schnütgen : Wing painting by Nüttgens with the donor portraits by Janssen and Münzenberger . In: Journal for Christian Art , 1898, issue 10, p. 289 f. ( online ), accessed February 4, 2014
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mengelberg, Friedrich Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-Dutch sculptor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 18, 1837 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cologne |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 6, 1919 |
| Place of death | Utrecht |