The brothers Bernhard Abel and Arnold Abel were sculptors and Florian Abel a painter in the middle of the 16th century. In 1561, Bernhard and Arnold worked for the Imperial Court in

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. On 28 April, they signed a contract on the completion of the unfinished tomb of Emperor

Maximilian I Maximilian I may refer to: *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned 1486/93–1519 *Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, reigned 1597–1651 *Maximilian I, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1636-1689) *Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, reigned 1795� ...

in the court chapel of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

. Florian, residing in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, provided the sketches for the reliefs. Bernhard travelled to

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

to purchase

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

, Arnold to

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with the same purpose and to study the old masters. In December, the two sculptors reunited in Innsbruck, but did not further their work, even though they were provided with all that was necessary from the government and had received the drafts from Florian. In 1562, they had only accomplished ''"the fourth part of a history"''. Due to their excessive lifestyles, they fell critically ill. They were provided with helpers, sent by sculptor Marx Müller from

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

: Franz Willems, Hans Ernhofer and Michael von der Vecken. Bernhard died at the end of December 1563 or beginning of January 1564. Arnold followed in February. Their work was finished by

Alexander Collin Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants li ...

, a sculptor from

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

in the province of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. According to his report, the two brothers had only begun with three of the reliefs, but finished none. Collin continued to work after the sketches from Florian Abel.

Sources

* ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' - online version at

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Abel, Bernhard and Arnold Abel, Bernhard and Arnold {{Austria-sculptor-stub