Johann Baptist Babel (25 June 1716 – 9 February 1799) was the preeminent sculptor of
Baroque era Switzerland.
[Beyer: "die hervorragendste Bildhauerpersönlichkeit des schweizerischen Barock".] Active mainly in
Central Switzerland
Central Switzerland is the region of the Alpine Foothills geographically the heart and historically the origin of Switzerland, with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug.
Central Switzerland is one of the NUTS 2 Stat ...
, he enjoyed an uncommonly long productive period that spanned the transitions from Late Baroque to
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
and then to
Neoclassicism.
Life
Babel was the fourth son of a wealthy court clerk in
Pfronten
Pfronten ( Swabian: ''Pfronte'') is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany.
Geography
Pfronten is one of a total of 45 towns, markets and municipalities in the district of Ostallgäu.
Pfronten is located on the n ...
-Ried near
Füssen
Füssen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu, situated one kilometre from the Austrian border. The town is known for violin manufacturing and as the closest transportation hub for the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau ca ...
in the
Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg
The Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg (german: Fürstbistum Augsburg; Hochstift Augsburg) was one of the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, and belonged to the Swabian Circle. It should not be confused with the larger diocese of Augsburg, ...
(now
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, Germany). After training with local sculptors, probably his cousin
Johann Peter Heel (1696–1767), Babel spent his
journeyman years
In a certain tradition, the journeyman years () are a time of travel for several years after completing apprenticeship as a craftsman. The tradition dates back to medieval times and is still alive in France, Scandinavia and the German-speaking c ...
traveling in Austria and learning wood and stone sculpting techniques. He probably spent time in
Bohemia and with
Joseph Päbel (1683–1742), another distantly related sculptor, in
St. Pölten. Although this is not documented, similarities in style and composition make it likely that he also trained in
stucco with
Diego Francesco Carloni between 1734 and 1740.
[Beyer, Nicole (1998). ]
He is first recorded as a master sculptor in 1742 in
Mimmenhausen. In 1746 he settled in
Einsiedeln
Einsiedeln () is a municipality and district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century.
History Early history
There was no permanent settlement in the area ...
,
Schwyz
The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.
The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ' ...
, where he married Katharina Willi and served as court sculptor to
Prince-Abbot
A prince-abbot (german: Fürstabt) is a title for a cleric who is a Prince of the Church (like a Prince-bishop), in the sense of an ''ex officio'' temporal lord of a feudal entity, usually a State of the Holy Roman Empire. The territory ruled ...
Nikolaus II. Imfeld until 1754. At
Einsiedeln Abbey
Einsiedeln Abbey (german: Kloster Einsiedeln) is a Benedictine Catholic monastery in the village of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a he ...
, Babel created a cycle of sculptures that were to outshine all of his later work. The fame they brought him made him sought after by clients from all over Central Switzerland after 1754. On account of his preeminence as a sculptor, he was admitted to the Einsiedeln Guild in 1777.
Babel remained active as a sculptor into high age, and was probably the teacher of
Joseph Anton,
Joseph Benedikt Curiger and
Joseph Anton Janser.
About a year before his death in 1799, he had to witness the
invading French troops vandalizing a great number of his sculptures on 3 May 1798. The
political and cultural upheavals after his death prevented him from having a substantial artistic following.
Works
Babel's works comprise about 270 objects related to 118 attested commissions, mostly sacral art. They include stone and stucco sculptures of saints and angels, mostly for church altars, models for
reliquaries
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including '' phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it is housed a ''fe ...
and a few secular sculptures for fountains or gardens.
His principal and earliest work is the statuary decoration of Einsiedeln Abbey. The choir sculptures (1746–47) elaborately illustrate the death of Christ and display an uncommonly rich variation in clothing forms, influenced by the work of Heel and Carloni. After 1750, Babel increasingly used
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
elements, beginning with the Allegories on the Einsiedeln main altar (1749–1751), which made him a pioneer of this style in Switzerland. The stone statues on the abbey's main square (1749–1751) illustrate the progression from late Baroque forms, as seen in the Emperor statues, to the more Rococo-like expressive gestures in the allegorical sculptures.
Most of Babel's works were small- or medium-sized altar figurines in polished white
basswood. The main work of the middle period of his life are the side altars of Our Lady's Chapel in
Oberarth (1764–67), considered the most valued Rococo furnishings in Central Switzerland. These furnishings, and those in the palace chapel of
Hilfikon illustrate Babel's principal accomplishment: the transformation of Late Baroque templates into a more controlled, constrained and comprehensive form.
In 1772–75, Babel created the facade, interior and fountain sculptures for the newly built
Neoclassical St. Ursen Cathedral of
Solothurn
Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissens ...
. His concessions to the emerging
Neoclassicist
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
style remained reluctant, however. His last major work, the 1794 statue of
John of Nepomuk
John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) ( cs, Jan Nepomucký; german: Johannes Nepomuk; la, Ioannes Nepomucenus) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393)
was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus ...
on the Devils's Bridge in Egg (Einsiedeln), based on a 1760 ''
bozzetto
A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...
'', illustrates his unwillingness to fully adapt to the new style.
Bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babel, Johann Baptist
German sculptors
German male sculptors
1716 births
1799 deaths
Swiss sculptors
Rococo sculptors
Swiss Baroque sculptors
Neoclassical sculptors
People from Ostallgäu
People from the canton of Schwyz
People from Einsiedeln
Catholic sculptors