Carl Ludwig Seffner (19 June 1861 – 2 October 1932) was a German sculptor. He is best remembered for his

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig.

Early life and work

Born in 1861, Seffner studied at the Leipzig Academy of Art from 1877 to 1883. After a period in

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, from 1886 to 1888 he studied in

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and Italy. He returned to Leipzig in 1889, and for the next few years, worked for the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, where he produced the marble busts of

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, Karl Thiersch,

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and

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. After J.S. Bach's skull was found in 1894 during the building of , in 1895, Seffner and Wilhelm His were commissioned to produce an anatomical reconstruction. The anatomical elements are attributed to His, while the shape work and painting are the work of Seffner. The work earned him an honorary doctorate from the medical faculty of the University of Leipzig. The same year, Seffner became a member of the

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Commission

Seffner went on to produce sculptures of

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(1896/1897), the Mayor (1898), young

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as a student in Leipzig (1902), and

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(1904). Additional works include the busts of

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, and

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. After being elected an honorary member of the Leipzig Art Society in 1899 and the Dresden Art Academy in 1901. In 1908, Seffner produced a statue of Bach, which stands near the proximity of the west entrance to St. Thomas Church. Local art critic Arthur Smolian anticipated that Seffner's work would turn the city into a "Bayreuth of Bach's art" and attract pilgrims. Of bronze, it measure in height and sits on a high socle. There is a music scroll in the statue's right hand and the left hand is raised from an organ manual. The statue debuted on 17 May 1908, coinciding with Leipzig's first Bach festival. Seffner was also commissioned to produce numerous graves and stones for the South Cemetery in Leipzig. In the years before his death in Leipzig in 1932, he was an active member of the group of artists '.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seffner, Carl 1861 births 1932 deaths Artists from Leipzig German sculptors German male sculptors Johann Sebastian Bach