Schwetzingen - Schlösser-Magazin

VII.
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VII. Appendices
in 1808, and the non-hereditary title that
went with it. Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell
died on 24th February 1823 in Munich. The
enduring legacy of this leading German
garden artist of his time, is the propagation
of the English-style landscape garden
in southern Germany, and its further
development to a classical maturity in the
first quarter of the 19th century. His manifold
professional experiences were left to posterity
in a handbook, Beiträge zur bildenden
Gartenkunst für angehende Gartenkünstler
und Gartenliebhaber, two editions of which
appeared in 1818 and 1825 at Munich.
(Hubert Wolfgang Wertz)
Matthias (Mattheus) van den Branden
(fl. 1755-1788)
Little is known about the childhood of
Matthias van den Branden. He probably
trained with his stepfather, the court sculptor
Christian Litz. Following a stay at Vienna,
Matthias van den Branden was appointed
court sculptor by Elector Carl Philipp
(1661/1716-1742), at the age of 24. 65
He made the altar of the church of St. Michael
at Mannheim, as well as the decorative
carvings on the bookcases of the large palace
library (1756) and the library cabinet of
Electress Elisabeth Augusta. 66
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. 67
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
65 Otto Knaus, Künstler am Hofe Carl Theodors, Schwetzingen
1963, pp. 93 ff.
66 Ludwig W. Böhm, Das Mannheimer Schloss, Karlsruhe 1994,
p. 13. Cp. Wiltrud Heber, Die Arbeiten des Nicolas des Pigage
in den ehemals kurpfälzischen Residenzen Mannheim und
Schwetzingen, vol I, Worms 1986, p. 126.
67 Stefan Mörz, Aufgeklärter Absolutismus in der Kurpfalz
während der Mannheimer Regierungszeit des Kurfürsten Karl
Theodor, Stuttgart 1991, p. 38.
and urns are by his hand. 68 His last work is
believed to be the artificially aged clay relief
depicting a female personification of Water,
on the Roman water tower. 69 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 first 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
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.
68 Heber 1986, p. 424, n. 2.
69 Oswald Zenker, Schwetzinger Schlossgarten, Schwetzingen
1989, pp. 56 f.