Pure Wirl

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Reiner Wirl (also pure Wierl , Reiner Wirell ; * in Würzburg ; † 1763 in Kitzingen ) was a detectable 1746-1763 sculptor of Rococo . He worked in the former Hochstift Würzburg , where works by him have been preserved, especially in the Main loop region .

Life

There are hardly any sources about the origin of the Reiner Wirl . It is only certain that the future artist was born in Würzburg. He is considered the son of Peter Wirl (also Würll), who also works as a sculptor. Other artists probably came from the family, for example a Guttwald Werrel mentioned in 1722 was identified as the brother of Reiner Wirl. Both father and brother probably worked in the vicinity of the Würzburg residence . The school education of the Reiner Wirl is completely in the dark.

Wirl may have learned his craft at Jakob van der Auwera's court sculptor workshop or was at least strongly influenced by his style. Reiner Wirl was also inspired by the works of Johann Wolfgang von der Auwera . After his training, in the 1740s, he was probably involved as a salaried sculptor working on the altarpieces of the baroque monastery church of Münsterschwarzach , which were executed by Johann Michael Feuchtmayer .

Before that, in 1738, Wirl was resident in Kitzingen and acquired citizenship . At this point he had finished his training and was able to support a family from his work. In the same year he married the daughter of the Kitzingen school principal Johann Franziskus Spieser, Anna Rosina. The painter Laurentius Derlet acted as best man. Several children were born to the couple between 1741 and 1760, but few of them reached adulthood.

However, Wirl did not appear for the first time until 1746. At that time he appeared in the accounts of the Schwarzenberg monastery because he worked here on the altar of grace in the Maria-Hilf chapel in the choir of the monastery church. In 1750 it appeared in the official accounts for church building in Gaibach . It was here that he established connections with the Würzburg court architect Balthasar Neumann , who later included other works by Wirl in his buildings.

For the construction of the new church of St. Laurentius in Obereuerheim, the artist made copies of the cracks in 1755 by the Wiesentheider court carpenter Johann Georg Neßtfell . In the years that followed, Wirl often took on orders together with Neßfell and added carved decorations to the carpenter's inlay work. During his life, Reiner Wirl worked more for the country nobility and the clergy and less for the prince-bishop and the prelates.

His main work was created in the Catholic parish church of St. Bartholomäus and St. Georg in Volkach . Pastor Georg Philipp Vogel pushed ahead with the redesign of the interior of the church, which his predecessors had already started. He also appointed Wirl to be the "building inspector", who was in charge of the renovations. Wirl created the altar retable for the side altars in the nave, and he also made a pulpit that is now in Oberspiesheim .

Simultaneously with the Volkach work, Wirl worked for the Gumpertus Church in Vilchband near Wittighausen in the second half of the 1750s . In his later years, Reiner Wirl was a sought-after sculptor who has been compared to Ferdinand Tietz . In November 1761 he was supposed to produce an epitaph for the Archbishop of Trier Franz Georg von Schönborn in Worms Cathedral. However, the order was never realized.

Although Reiner Wirl was highly regarded as a sculptor, he was only able to acquire half a house in Kitzingen in 1756. Throughout his life Wirl was only assigned to the lowest tax bracket . His wife had already died in 1760 and the orders for Wirl also fell noticeably. The sculptor was last mentioned in 1763, he probably died that year in his hometown of Kitzingen.

Works (selection)

The works of Reiner Wirl are to be assigned to the Main Franconian Rococo. His rocaille carvings in particular are among the finest works in the region in the 18th century. At the same time, Wirl's repertoire of figures is limited and the proportions of the figures are not very convincing statically. It is characterized by the dramatic staging and the carved putti heads , which can be found very often in his work.

Secured works

The Sebastian altar in the parish church in Volkach

Attributed works

literature

  • Georg Menth: The sculptor family Auwera in Aub. On the life and work of the sculptors in the 18th century between the Main and Tauber . Wolfratshausen 1987.
  • Erich Schneider: Reiner Wirl - a forgotten Rococo sculptor in Lower Franconia . In: Uwe Müller, Ernst Petersen, Erich Schneider (eds.): From four centuries of Schweinfurt history. Festschrift Wilhelm Böhm (= Publications of the Historical Association Schweinfurt New Series, Vol. 2) . Schweinfurt 1994. pp. 53-80.

Web links

Commons : Reiner Wirl  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schneider, Erich: Reiner Wirl . P. 76.
  2. ↑ Schneider, Erich: Reiner Wirl . P. 54.
  3. ^ Menth, Georg: The sculptor family Auwera in Aub . Pp. 309-311.
  4. ↑ Schneider, Erich: Reiner Wirl . P. 54.
  5. ^ See: Schneider, Erich: Reiner Wirl .
personal data
SURNAME Wirl, Reiner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wierl, Reiner; Wirell, Reiner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH 18th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Wurzburg
DATE OF DEATH 1763
Place of death Kitzingen