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Figure of John the Apostle

Jan Obrocki

Basic information

ID: С-I-1950
Author: Jan Obrocki
Name: Figure of John the Apostle
Date of creation: 1779
Technique: carving polychrome
Material: wood
Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm): 188 x 131 x 77

Additionally

Type: sculpture
Genre: religious
Provenance: Busk town, Busk district, Lviv region, St. Stanislaus Church

Information about author

Author: Jan Obrocki
Artist's lifetime: c. 1730 – c. 1800
Country: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, now Ukraine
Biography: Jan Obrocki (c. 1730 – c. 1800) was a Lviv sculptor of the second half of the 18th century. He executed his works in wood and stone, and worked in the technique of stucco. The works of the master are characterized by the style of Rococo and early Classicism. Between 1756 and 1757, he was first mentioned in a document about craftsmen who did not belong to the city guilds. In 1764, like some Lviv sculptors, Jan Obrocki was granted the right to wear a sword. It symbolically gave him the same status as the gentry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and exempted him from the jurisdiction of city guilds. Jan Obrocki decorated three fireplaces with stucco in the palace of Lubomirski princes in Lviv, and made a volumetric sculpture for Castrum doloris for the funeral of Anna Sanguszko Jablonska, which was displayed in the Bernardine monastery in Zaslav. Between 1769 and 1780, the sculptor worked on the interior design of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Lviv, making sculptures for the altar of St. Trinity and the Transfiguration of the Lord. He carved wooden figures of saints for the church in Busk.

Object description

Around 1779, Jan Obrocki and Ignat Buraczynski created a volumetric sculpture for the main altar and pulpit in the Church of St. Stanislaus in Busk. Unlike typical iconographic schemes where several figures are placed near the Crucifixion, the St. Stanislaus Church altar composition features two figures – the Virgin Mary and John the Apostle. The saint's elongated figure is portrayed in an S-shaped silhouette (figura serpentinata), which dominated Baroque sculpture. John is depicted in a dynamic pose with theatrically outstretched arms. His head is raised, with a gaze directed upwards. Meticulously carved by the master, the figure features drawn together eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, a straight nose with flared nostrils, prominent cheekbones, and hair gracefully framing the head in flowing waves. The saint's drapery and clothing are adorned with monumental folds, transitioning from smooth curves to geometric planes that follow the contours of the figure. There is a certain restraint in the portrayal of the saint.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Figure of John the Apostle

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