Peter Anton von Verschaffelt (8 May 1710 – 5 July 1793) was a Flemish
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 ...
and
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
.
Verschaffelt designed, among other things in Mannheim, the high altar of the Jesuit church (''
Jesuitenkirche''), the arsenal and the Bretzenheim Palace, as well as the church ''Wallfahrtskirche Mariä Himmelfahrt'' in Oggersheim (now part of
Ludwigshafen
Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...
).
Life and work
Verschaffelt was born in
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
,
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
in the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...
, as Pieter Antoon Verschaffelt. After his apprentice years in Ghent in the workshop of his grandfather, Verschaffelt worked in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and, from 1737 to 1751, in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
In 1748, he received the commission to replace the damaged statue of the
archangel Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
on the
Castel Sant'Angelo
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (; English: ''Castle of the Holy Angel''), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausol ...
in Rome, although it was not installed until 1753.
In 1752 Verschaffelt moved to London. From there, he was appointed as a successor to the sculptor Paul Egell as court sculptor to
Charles Theodore,
Elector of the Palatinate
The counts palatine of Lotharingia /counts palatine of the Rhine /electors of the Palatinate (german: Kurfürst von der Pfalz) ruled some part of Rhine area in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire from 915 to 1803. The title was a kind ...
, in
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...
, Germany. Among his first tasks was the landscaping and statuary in the palace garden of
Schwetzingen, for which he created the deer and the group of rivers, which are the key features of the park.
He died in Mannheim, Electoral Palatinate,
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
, aged 83.
Gallery
Image:Angel Van Verschaffelt SantAngelo.jpg, The bronze statue of Archangel Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
, standing on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (; English: ''Castle of the Holy Angel''), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausol ...
, Rome, modelled in 1753 by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt (1710–1793)
Image:Mannheim-jesuitenkirche.JPG, Jesuit Church, Mannheim
Image:Palais Bretzenheim Eingang.jpg, Bretzenheim Palace, Mannheim
References
Sources
''This article is based in part on material from the
German Wikipedia
The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia.
Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...
''.
* Beisel, Edmund (1920) ''Ritter Peter Anton von Verschaffelt als Architekt'' Berlin
* Beringer, Joseph August (1902) ''Peter Anton von Verschaffelt. Sein Leben und Werk'' Strasbourg
External links
''Peter Anton von Verschaffelt'' Art netin English
*
in German
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verschaffelt, Peter Anton von
Flemish Baroque architects
Architects of the Austrian Netherlands
Flemish Baroque sculptors
Court sculptors
1710 births
1793 deaths