Schwetzingen - Schlösser-Magazin

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. 70 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.
Baaf at Ghent, with the monument of Bishop
Maximilian van der Noot. He also submitted
designs for the rebuilding of Speyer Cathedral,
but only his design for the high altar was
realized. 71 In 1775, he made a colossal bronze
statue of the Austrian governor, Karl Alexander
of Lorraine, for the city of Brussels; it was
commissioned by the Estates of Brabant. 72
In his capacity as an architect, Verschaffelt
designed the Oggersheim pilgrimage church
for the Electress in 1774, the arsenal of
Mannheim in 1777, and the Palais Bretzenheim
for the Elector’s illegitimate children in 1782.
As early as 1752, Verschaffelt founded a private
drawing school; Elector Carl Theodor raised
it to the status of an academy of drawing and
sculpture in 1769, and made Verschaffelt its
director. In 1767, the Chamber of Antiques
became a part of it. 73
The largest number of works by Verschaffelt
is concentrated at Schwetzingen. The first
contract with Verschaffelt is dated 29th
August 1766, 74 and contains a list of sculptures
required, complete with material, size, intended
site, and price. He was to provide the following
pieces: four pyramids for the parterre and a
large group of “Glaucus and Scylla” for the
70 Bust of Voltaire “coiffe à la moderne” at Seattle (Art Museum);
bust of Voltaire “à l’antique” at Paris (Louvre).
71 The high altar was destroyed in 1794.
72 The statue, 4m in height, was destroyed in 1796.
73 The Chamber of Antiques contained an outstanding collection
of plaster casts for the academy’s students to work from. In the
18th century, it was a tourist attraction that drew many visitors,
among them Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Heinse, the Humboldt
brothers, Lavater, Schubart and Sophie von La Roche. Copies
of Castor and Pollux and of the San Ildefonso faun found their
way to Goethe’s house on Frauenplan in Weimar.
74 Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv München, Allgemeines
Staatsarchiv Fürstensachen 823 1/3 folio 40-43.
VII. Appendices
basin; for the great avenue, two stag groups
and the four elements; for the natural theatre,
two dancing fauns and two fountains depicting
groups of children; for the Apollo grove,
two naiads and a statue of Apollo; moreover,
four marble heads modelled on pieces from
the Chamber of Antiques, eight leaden urns,
and the restoration of a Bacchus statue.
The contract states further that Verschaffelt
had so far delivered eight plain stone urns,
another 40 urns of bronze-plated clay, four
urns representing the ages of the world, and
a wall fountain. A statement by Pigage dated
30th August 1773, 75 lists several more: two
sandstone monuments in the large bosquet,
six sphinxes at the natural theatre, four lions
next to the stairs, two colossal sandstone
busts modelled on pieces from the Chamber
of Antiques, 18 leaden urns instead of eight, a
small statue of Cupid, the personification of the
Danube for the great basin, and the restoration
of older statues. On the other hand, the
dancing fauns, the groups of children and the
group of Glaucus and Scylla no longer appear.
In a specification dated 17th September 1777, 76
the works are listed again, and Pigage also
argues with Verschaffelt about a Cupid which,
75 Kurt Martin, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Amtsbezirks Mannheim,
Stadt Schwetzingen, Karlsruhe 1933, p. 342.
76 Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv München, Allgemeines
Staatsarchiv Fürstensachen 823 1/3 folio 28-30.
VII.
Peter Anton von Verschaffelt
(1710-1793) (Reiss-Engelhorn-
Museen).
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