II. - Schloss Schwetzingen

In 1771, Carl Theodor commissioned Matthias
van den Branden to create the monument
of his deceased mistress Josepha Seiffert,
Countess of Heydeck, at Zwingenberg Castle
on the Neckar. 66
After his stepfather’s death, Matthias van den
Branden succeeded him as court sculptor, a
position that entailed work at Schwetzingen
as well. From 1762 onwards, he was given
various commissions by Pigage (1723 – 1796),
all connected with the layout of the parterres;
it is believed that numerous statues, reliefs
and urns are by his hand. 67 His last work is
believed to be the artifi cially aged clay relief
depicting a female personifi cation of Water,
on the Roman water tower. 68 After a row with
Pigage and the Elector’s move to Munich, commissions
from the court grew less frequent.
The sculptor died in abject poverty.
(Susan Richter)
Peter Anton von Verschaffelt (1710-1793)
The sculptor and architect Peter Anton von
Verschaffelt (Ghent 1710 – Mannheim 1793)
was trained by his grandfather, Pieter de
Sutter. From 1731, he was a student of Jacob
Verberckt (1704-1771) and Jean François de
Troy (1679-1752) at the Académie Royale de
peinture et de sculpture in Paris. From 1734,
he worked on the statuary of St. Sulpice as a
member of the sculptor Edmé Bouchardon’s
(1689-1762) studio. In 1737, Verschaffelt won
the academy’s fi rst prize; from 1737 to 1751
he worked as a freelance artist at Rome. Pope
Benedict XIV commissioned work for several
churches in Rome (S. Maria Maggiore, S.
Croce in Gerusalemme, S. Maria Apollinare),
Bologna (S. Pietro), Ancona (S. Ciriaco) and
Lisbon (chapel of St. Rochus church) as well
as the monastery of Monte Cassino.
Other important works are a bust of Benedict
XIV and a model for the bronze angel of the
Castel Sant’Angelo. In 1745, Verschaffelt
66 Stefan Mörz, Aufgeklärter Absolutismus in der Kurpfalz
während der Mannheimer Regierungszeit des Kurfürsten Karl
Theodor, Stuttgart 1991, p. 38.
67 Heber 1986, p. 424, n. 2.
68 Oswald Zenker, Schwetzinger Schlossgarten, Schwetzingen
1989, pp. 56 f.
IV. Biographies
became a member of the academy of St Lucca
at Rome. In 1751, through the agency of
Cardinal Alessandro Albani, he was given a
post with Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales,
at London. After the prince’s sudden death,
Verschaffelt was sent on to Lord Dodington,
with another letter of recommendation from
the cardinal.
In 1752, he succeeded Paul Egell as Palatine
court sculptor, probably through the patronage
of Friedrich Michael von Pfalz-Zweibrücken,
Elector Carl Theodor’s brother-in-law.
Verschaffelt did some work for Friedrich
Michael’s summer residence of Oggersheim.
At Mannheim the most important works
by the new Palatine court sculptor were the
statuary of the Jesuit church; the relief on the
gable of the palace library; the colossal statues
of Elector Carl Theodor and his Electress,
Elisabeth Augusta, for the library hall; their
busts in the court library; and two portrait
busts of the philosopher, Voltaire. 69 For the
palace of Benrath near Düsseldorf, Verschaffelt
made four gable reliefs and groups of
cherubs for the attic. Outside the Palatinate he
was commissioned to redesign the choir of St.
69 Bust of Voltaire “coiffe à la moderne” at Seattle (Art Museum);
bust of Voltaire “à l’antique” at Paris (Louvre).
IV.
Peter Anton von Verschaffelt
(1710-1793)
183