Joseph Stapf (sculptor)

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St. Joseph at the high altar in the parish church of Munderkingen
Maria Immakulata on the facade of the basilica in Wilten
Angels at the choir altar of the collegiate church in Wilten
Pulpit in the parish church of Wiggensbach
Altar model in the Heimathaus Pfronten
Risen Christ in the parish church Hinterhornbach

Joseph Stapf (born August 12, 1711 in Pfronten -Dorf; † November 26, 1785 there ) was a South German sculptor and building expert. He came from a "central Pfronten family of artists" that produced five painters and three sculptors in three generations. There was also a relationship to the Hitzelberger and Geisenhof families, who were also artistically active.

Life

Joseph Stapf was a grandson of the barber and surgeon Nikolaus Stapf and the youngest son of Michael Stapf († 1712), who died early, and his wife Ursula Wetzer. Like his brother Mang Anton Stapf , who was ten years older than him , Joseph completed an apprenticeship as a sculptor with Christoph Bammer in Augsburg , from 1726 to 1729.

Extract from the high altar of the parish church of St. Martin in Marktoberdorf

There is no news whatsoever about his journeyman days. For around two decades, the Pfronten sculptor was active in neighboring Tyrol and even in South Tyrol, mostly as a collaborator and advisor to the “priest architect” Franz de Paula Penz .

In 1743 Joseph bought the family home from his brother Mang Anton. Because he had no offspring, he sold it to a brother-in-law in 1765, but kept the right to live in the house to himself. In contrast to most sculptors of his time, Joseph Stapf was very well off financially; he could lend money and trade in land. He only married in 1772, when he was 61 years of age. On November 25, 1785, one day before his death, Joseph Stapf changed his will again in favor of his wife's home church, St. Martin in Pfronten-Kappel . He had previously furnished this church with altars at cost price.

plant

sculptor

The sculptural work by Joseph Stapf has so far only been partially recorded. There are two reasons for this: Probably because of the same teacher, the work of the Stapf brothers and their cousin Maximilian Hitzelberger is in some cases very difficult to distinguish. Apparently the two Stapf brothers even ran a joint workshop in Pfronten for a long time. In addition, Joseph Stapf's Tyrolean works are widely scattered, in some cases no longer preserved and not yet thoroughly researched. It is remarkable that Joseph Stapf - like his brother Mang Anton - worked just as well in wood as in stone: "He guided the carving knife through limewood as through soft wax." B. several figures in the Wilten basilica .

Altar builder

There is evidence that Joseph Stapf planned several magnificent altars and pulpits. He probably left the pure Kistler work to an appropriate artisan, while he mostly, but not always, carried out the sculptural work.

Building surveyor

It is not known where and how Joseph Stapf acquired his architectural knowledge. The basilica in Innsbruck-Wilten , whose plan drawings he made , proves that he was also capable of outstanding achievements as an architect . Stylistically, Stapf belongs to the so-called "Füssen School" of Johann Jakob Herkomer . Joseph Stapf's role as advisor and companion of the spiritual architect Franz de Paula Penz changed from case to case and can hardly be determined in retrospect in all details.

Catalog raisonné

The catalog raisonné is incomplete for the reasons already mentioned.

  • 1736: Obermarchtal , former Premonstratensian Abbey Church of St. Peter and Paul: collaboration on three side altars
  • 1738: Munderkingen , parish church St. Dionysius: high altar sculpture (attribution)
  • around 1740: Ehrwald (Tyrol), parish church to Our Lady Maria Visitation: sculptures (attribution)
  • around 1740: Reutte (Tyrol), chapel Christ am Stein near the Ehrenberger Klause : Fall of Christ under the cross (remarkable figure, attribution)
  • 1742: Pfronten -Ösch, St. Coloman Chapel: Altar (archival, but not preserved)
  • before 1743: Berwang (Tyrol), parish church of the Apostle Jakobus: unknown works of larger size (100 guilders, archival)
  • around 1743: Pinswang (Tyrol), Parish Church of St. Ulrich: Rococo furnishings, only partially preserved
  • around 1743 (?): Pfronten , formerly "Stapfhaus": house figure of St. Joseph and three doors (attribution)
  • around 1745: Dösingen , St. Antonius Chapel: high altar design, high altar sculpture, individual figures (attributions)
  • 1745/46: Speiden, pilgrimage church Maria Hilf : pulpit (attribution, uncertain)
  • 1745/47: Marktoberdorf , parish church St. Martin : splendid choir altar (design and altar sculpture)
  • before 1749. Burggen , former pilgrimage church St. Anna: side altar designs, side altar sculptures (attributions)
  • 1746/47: Fulpmes (Tyrol): Parish Church of St. Veit: building plan (?), Altar designs (?), High altar figures (partly documented)
  • 1746/47: Medraz (Tyrol), Filialkirche St. Margaretha: plans (?), Angel at the tabernacle, figure of Christ (attributions)
  • 1748/49 (?): Schönberg im Stubaital (Tyrol), Parish Church of the Holy Cross: high altar design and high altar sculpture (both however questionable!)
  • around 1750 (?): Weer (Tyrol), parish church of St. Gallus: pulpit (attribution)
  • 1750/51: Gossensaß (South Tyrol): Parish church of Maria Immaculate Conception: high altar design (attribution), high altar figures documented
  • around 1750/60 (?): Pfronten -Heitlern: side altar designs (attribution)
  • 1751 to 1755: Innsbruck-Wilten , parish church and basilica of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (most important sacral rococo building in North Tyrol): construction plans and models, design of the high altar, magnificent pulpit, marble statues (partly documented, partly attributed)
  • 1752/53: Brixen (South Tyrol), Cathedral of the Assumption: choir oratorios, putti on the organ parapet, drafts for the pulpit, choir and church seats
  • 1753/54: Anras (East Tyrol), parish church of St. Stephen: entire church furnishings (!)
  • 1754/56. Telfes im Stubai (Tyrol), parish church of St. Pankratius: crucifix and two thieves (attribution)
  • around 1757/60: Tannheim- Berg (Tyrol), Chapel of St. Sebastian: choir altar (attribution)
  • around 1757/60: Pfronten- Steinach, St. Michael branch church: high altar design (attribution)
  • around 1760 (?): Lienz (East Tyrol), Church of St. Joseph: statue of Mary (attribution)
  • 1760/61: Sachsenried , parish church St. Martin: Figure for the already existing high altar (attribution)
  • 1763/64: Steinach am Brenner (Tyrol), parish church of St. Erasmus: high altar design (?)
  • 1764/67: Füssen , St. Stephan Franciscan Church: Altar designs (attribution)
  • 1765: Hinterhornbach parish church : Christ risen from the dead
  • 1767/68: Innsbruck-Wilten (Tyrol), Premonstratensian Canons' Monastery : Collegiate Church of St. Laurentius: splendid rococo pulpit, figures for the high altar and the side altars, ornaments (only partially documented)
  • 1769/70: Innsbruck- Mentlberg (Tyrol), pilgrimage church "Maria auf der Gallwies" to Our Lady of Sorrows: planning (?), High altar and pulpit (attribution)
  • 1772: Wiggensbach , parish church St. Pankratius: pulpit and high altar design, magnificent pulpit (attributions)
  • around 1775: Elbigenalp (Tyrol), parish church of St. Nicholas: plans (?), altar designs, figures (attributions)
  • 1776/78/80: Pfronten -Kappel, St. Martin (Pfronten) : altar designs, tabernacles, all figures (archival, only partially preserved)
  • 1778: Pfronten -Heitlern, branch church St. Leonhard: pulpit (formerly in Pfronten-Kappel)
  • before 1780: Pfronten -Berg, parish church St. Nikolaus : design of the choir altar (wooden model)
  • 1781 (?): Bernbeuren- Auerberg, Filialkirche St. Georg: high altar design (attribution)
  • 1783: Reicholzried , parish church St. Georg and Florian: Altar designs (?)

literature

  • Florian Norbert Schomer's OPraem: Premonstratensian Canon Monastery Wilten Innsbruck. Patronage: St. Laurentius (August 10th), St. Stephan (December 26th), Diocese of Innsbruck - State of Tyrol. Kunstverlag Peda , Passau 2009, ISBN 978-3-89643-735-8 ( Peda art guide 735).
  • Maximilian Müller: The former Premonstratensian Abbey of St. Peter and Paul Marchtal. Revised and expanded edition. Catholic parish of St. Peter and Paul - Obermarchtal, Rottenburg am Neckar 1994.
  • Karl Bayer: Franz de Paula Penz. His life and his work. Tyrolia-Verlag, Innsbruck et al. 1991, ISBN 3-7022-1744-4 .
  • Gert Ammann among others: Tyrol. Schroll, Vienna 1980, ISBN 3-7031-0488-0 ( Dehio-Handbuch 6, Die Kunstdenkmäler Österreichs 5).
  • Josef Mair, in: The Reutte District - The Ausserfern "Art History", Höfen 2010
  • Wolfram Köberl, notes on the Pfronten artist family Stapf , in: Schlern-Mitteilungen, Der Schlern 35, p. 361 and 362, 1962.
  • Winfried Aßfalg, Christian, father and son, sculptor from Riedlingen , Ostfildern 1998.
  • Herbert Wittmann, Joseph Stapf (1711–1785), A Pfrontener Sculptor in Tyrol , in: Extra Verren 2011, Yearbook of the Museum Association of the Reutte District, Reutte 2011, pp. 51–96 and pp. 100–121.
  • Klaus Wankmiller: With knife and mallet ! Works by Pfrontener Sculptors in Ausserfern - Catalog for the exhibition street (= publications of the Museum Association of the Reutte District - Volume XI), Reutte 2017. ISBN 978-3-9503706-7-6 .

Web links

Commons : Joseph Stapf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Annemarie Schröppel, Encounter with Pfrontner Art of the 17th and 18th Centuries , booklet accompanying the exhibition at Sparkasse Ostallgäu, 1981
  2. ↑ Annemarie Schröppel in a letter dated June 11, 1962 to Professor Dr. Ringler in Innsbruck. Apparently there is an archival source for this quote.
  3. ↑ On December 23, 1736, the Reichsgotteshaus Marchtal concluded an accord for the production of the St. Agatha altar and the St. Antonius altar with the Riedlingen sculptor Johann Joseph Christian (wording from: Winfried Aßfalg, Christian, father and son, sculptor from Riedlingen , Ostfildern 1998, pages 28/29). However, the order for both altars was carried out by the Stapf brothers, with whom an almost identical contract had been signed four weeks earlier. The contract was signed with Joseph Stapf, but the payment was accepted by Mang Anton Stapf (Aßfalg, page 75).
  4. ↑ When Joseph bought his parents' house, Joseph left his brother Mang Anton with a credit of 400 guilders "at St. Brother Ulrich's branch chapel in Pinswang". Augsburg State Archives, letter minutes from the Pfronten administrative office, No. 254, p. 157
personal data
SURNAME Stapf, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor and building surveyor
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1711
PLACE OF BIRTH Pfronten
DATE OF DEATH November 26, 1785
Place of death Pfronten