Willem van den Blocke

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The High Gate - state in 1855 before the walls were torn down (drawing by Julius Greth)

Willem van den Blocke (* around 1550 in Mechelen ; † January 18, 1628 in Danzig ; first name also Wilhelm , last name also van den Block , van den Bloocke , from the block , from the block , van block ) was a sculptor and architect Flemish Descent, which worked mainly in East Prussia, Poland, the Baltic States and Sweden. Stylistically, his works belonged to mannerism .

family

His father, Franciscus van den Blocke, was probably also a sculptor. Aegidius van den Blocke, possibly brother of Willem, was granted the right to practice the profession of sculptor on June 6, 1573.

Willem was married to Dorothea Wolff. He was the father of at least seven children, including the sculptor Abraham , Jakob - Zimmermann, Isaak and David - both painters, Katharina, Susanna and one other daughter.

Willem van den Blocke was a Baptist (Anabaptist) , which often caused him difficulties.

Life

Willem learned first from his father and then in the workshop of the master sculptor Cornelis Floris in Antwerp . Around 1569 he came to Königsberg , where in 1571 he worked with a group of Floris sculptors on the statue of Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1490–1568), the last Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, in the local cathedral. In 1581 he created a tomb of Princess Elisabeth, the first wife of Prince Georg Friedrich I (Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach) , † 1578.

He then worked from 1581 to 1583 on the tomb of Christoph Báthory , the brother of the King of Poland Stephan Báthory in Wartenburg in East Prussia .

At the beginning of 1584 he came to Gyulafehérvár in Transylvania , where he erected a tomb in the church there.

Willem van den Blocke came to Danzig on June 18, 1584 with a letter of recommendation from King Stephen of Poland. His most important work in Gdansk was the construction of the High Gate (until 1588). He also created numerous epitaphs and tombs. He is also credited with stone carving on some town houses in Gdansk and Elblag .

Preserved works

  • Epitaph of Simon and Judith von Bahr in the Basilica of St. Marien in Danzig, created between 1614 and 1620

  • Epitaph Blemke
    in the Marienkirche in Danzig
  • Epitaph Blemke
    fragment with the resurrection scene     from the book of Ezekiel , chapter 37
  • Tomb of
    Johann III. (Sweden)
    in Uppsala Cathedral
  • Tomb Ture Bielke
    and his wife
    in Linköping Cathedral

Attributed works (selection)

Epitaphs

Tombs

  • The Kos family in Oliva Cathedral , 1600 or 1620
  • Martin de Berzewice in Lisnowo near Brodnica, 1592 (destroyed 1939)
  • Andreas and Balthasar Báthory in St. Andrew's Church in Barczewo , 1598
  • Peter Tarnowski in the Łowicz Cathedral , after 1604
  • Stanislaus Radziwiłł in the former St. Bernard Church in Vilnius , 1618–1623

House portals

  • Lange Gasse 55 in Gdansk, home of the Gdansk Rifle Guild St. Georg (end of the 16th century)
  • Eskenhaus in Thorn (around 1590)

  • Epitaph Chrystian and Johann Stroband, Assumption Church in Thorn, around 1590

  • Stanisław Radziwiłł's tomb, former Bernardine Church in Vilnius

  • Portal from the Eskenhaus in Thorn around 1590

literature

Web links

Commons : Willem van den Blocke  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
  • Renata Sulewska: Willem van den Blocke. Niderlandzki rzeźbiarz i architect. (Dutch sculptor and architect) Digitized on the culture.pl website from January 16, 2003 (Polish)
  • Cynthia Osiecki: Forgotten Netherlandish Artists in the Baltic Region: the migration of Dutch and Flemish sculptors to the Baltic region in the second half of the sixteenth century. In: CODART EZINE. 2, spring 2013 web article (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Renata Sulewska: Willem van den Blocke. Niderlandzki rzeźbiarz i architect.
  2. ^ Cynthia Osiecki: Forgotten Netherlandish Artists in the Baltic Region.
personal data
SURNAME Blocke, Willem van den
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Flemish sculptor and architect
DATE OF BIRTH around 1550
PLACE OF BIRTH Mechelen
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1628
Place of death Danzig