II. - Schloss Schwetzingen

II.
Fig. 5: Two stag groups
terminating the circular
parterre to the west, Peter
Anton von Verschaffelt, 1766-69
(photo: Scholl).
24
Fig. 6: Temple of Minerva,
southern angloise, Nicolas de
Pigage, 1767 – 1773 (photo:
Förderer).
II. Schwetzingen – A Prince Elector’s Eighteenth-Century Summer Residence
two lawns. Despite their prominent position
fl anking the main axis, their signifi cance
could not be determined so far. 12
The axis is terminated by the great basin with
its two monumental groups representing the
Rhine and the Danube. 13 Originally another
pair of river deities, the Moselle and Maas,
was to have graced the opposite bank, but
they were scrapped for money-saving reasons.
According to a note dated 1769 the original
intention was a portrayal of the four rivers
irrigating Carl Theodor’s domains. This group
of four reappears both on the base of Carl
Theodor’s monument at Heidelberg and on
the monument in the Mannheim market
square. Verschaffelt’s monumental sculptures
12 Maria Christine Werhahn, Der kurpfälzische Hofbildhauer
Franz Conrad Linck (1730-1793). Modelleur der Porzellanmanufaktur
Frankenthal, Bildhauer in Mannheim, Neuss 1999.
13 Eva Hofmann, Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, Hofbildhauer des
Kurfürsten Carl Theodor in Mannheim, Mannheim 1982, p.
260.
take up the tradition of antique river deities. It
is reasonable to assume that he had seen the
Nile group at the Vatican. 14 The visitor is faced
with the extent and glory of Carl Theodor’s
rule.
The Southern Angloise
Wisdom and Art, the intellectual and spiritual
life, are the themes of the southern angloise.
The parterre’s diagonal leads up to the Temple
of Minerva 15 according to myth the inventor
of the fl ute and trumpet, of clay-burning, the
plough and rake, the yoke and bridle, the cart
and the ship. Minerva is the creative force
behind both the domestic arts and the science
of numbers. She was the protectress of writers
and poets. Although a goddess of the art of
warfare, she preferred resolving confl icts
by peaceful means. Conrad Linck’s gable
relief 16 depicts Minerva’s benefi cal presence
at Schwetzingen – she is sitting on a rocky
outcrop watching over the laying-out of the
garden that is presented to her on a scroll.
The water supply, the cultivation of the soil,
buildings, sculptures and plants in beds and
tubs combine to form a work of art. Inside the
temple is a marble statue by Grupello, reworked
by Verschaffelt – a victorious Minerva
carrying an olive branch.
Outside is another representation of the goddess
as the patroness of painters, a “Minerva
pictura”. Opposite is a statue of Mercury,
the god of trade and thus of progress, partly
responsible for material well-being. Another
sculpture, a work by Andrea Vaccha originally
known as a “pleureuse antique” and today as
a “Dying Agrippina”, alludes to the sublime in
literature in its depiction of a tragic heroine. 17
Terminating the avenue that forms the
western boundary of the south angloise is
a statue of Apollo by Paul Egell. Apollo, god
14 Ibid., pp. 4 ff.
15 Wiltrud Heber, Die Arbeiten des Nicolas de Pigage in
den ehemals kurpfälzischen Residenzen Mannheim und
Schwetzingen, Worms 1986, pp. 557 ff.
16 Maria Christine Werhahn, Der kurpfälzische Hofbildhauer
Franz Conrad Linck (1730 -1793). Modelleur der Porzellanmanufaktur
Frankenthal, Bildhauer in Mannheim, Neuss 1999.
17 Re. the naming of the sculpture see: Kurt Martin, Die Kunstdenkmäler
des Amtsbezirk Mannheim, Stadt Schwetzingen,
Karlsruhe 1933, pp. 340-341.