UK
Collection

Cherub's Head

Johann (Jan) Pfister

Cherub's Head ico mark
Basic information
ID
С-I-907
Author
Johann (Jan) Pfister
Name
Cherub's Head
Date of creation
17th c.
Technique
carving
Material
wood levkas gilt
Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm)
22 x 23.5 x 10.5
Additionally
Type
sculpture
Genre
religious painting
Information about author
Author
Johann (Jan) Pfister
Artist's lifetime
1573–1640/1642
Biography
Johann (Jan) Pfister was a German sculptor, born in 1573 in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) in the family of the painter and sculptor George Pfister. He studied under masters from the Netherlands and Germany, namely Hans Fleiser, Friedrich Gross, and Gerhard Hendrick. Jan Pfister is considered to be the most outstanding sculptor at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries who worked in Ukraine and Poland. In his works, the sculptor used marble and alabaster rather than wood. He performed the best works in Lviv, Berezhany, and Tarnow. In 1615, at the request of Adam Hieronim Sieniawski, the sculptor began working in Berezhany on the tombstones of the noble Sieniawski family, namely Adam Hieronim and his three sons – Alexander, Mikolaj, and Prokop. Besides, Jan Pfister taught at a carving school in the town. Working as a court sculptor of the Sieniawski family, he carved the altar compositions in the Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary in the village of Bishche in the Ternopil region that also belonged to the family. In the 1630s, he worked on the decoration of the altar. Jan Pfister proved to be a professional sculptor who took the first steps in art under the influence of German and Dutch Mannerism.
Object description
In addition to monumental sculptures, Jan Pfister made a lot of small plastic works, namely the heads of cherubs and angels, as well as mascarons. The characteristic features of the sculptures of angels' heads are an open forehead with a lock of hair in the middle, an elongated face framed by small curls, round cheeks, a snub nose, and a slightly open mouth with visible teeth. The works by Jan Pfister are characterized by the signs of Renaissance and Mannerism. The sculpture comes from the town of Berezhany in the Ternopil region.

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