Philipp Jakob Straub (30 April 1706 (baptism) – 26 August 1774) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

from a well-known family of German

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

sculptors. His father Johann George Straub and his brothers Johann Baptist, Joseph, and Johann Georg Straub were also sculptors, as was his nephew

Franz Xaver Messerschmidt Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (February 6, 1736 – August 19, 1783) was a German-Austrian sculptor most famous for his "character heads", a collection of busts with faces contorted in extreme facial expressions. Early years Born February 6, 17 ...

. Straub was born in

Wiesensteig Wiesensteig is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located on the river Fils, 16 km south of Göppingen. Geography Geographical location Wiesensteig is located in the upper Fils valley ...

in Germany and studied in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, but he spent most of his career in Austria, first in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

, and then in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, where in 1730 he joined the workshop of the sculptor Johann Jakob Schoy (1686–1733). In 1733, upon the death of Schoy, Straub married the widow of his mentor and took over his workshop. He remained in Graz for the rest of his life. He died there, aged 68. Straub worked primarily in stone and wood in a

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, ...

style that was deeply influenced by local Styrian traditions. His most notable works include the altars (1730) (now destroyed) in the Parish Church of the Holy Blood in

; the statue of St. John Nepomuk (1734) in front of the pilgrimage church in

Weiz Weiz () is a town in the eastern part of the Austrian state of Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the sec ...

; the images of St. John Nepomuk and St. Aloysius (1744–1745) on the altars in the Cathedral of St. Ägydius in Graz; four statues (1764) in front of

Schloss Eggenberg Eggenberg Palace (german: link=no, Schloss Eggenberg) in Graz, is the most significant Baroque palace complex in the Austrian province of Styria. With its preserved accouterments, the extensive scenic gardens, as well as some special collec ...

in Graz; the high altar and two side altars in the parish church at Ebersdorf (1766); and the figures of St. Michael and two other angels (1769) on the

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

of façade of the Maria-Hilf-Kirche in Graz.''Austria: A Phaidon Cultural Guide''. Oxford: Phaidon, 1985. pp. 116–121. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Straub, Philipp Jakob 1706 births 1774 deaths Austrian Baroque sculptors Austrian male sculptors Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Catholic sculptors