Figure of God the Father

Maciej Polejowski

Basic information

ID: С-I-1564
Author: Maciej Polejowski
Name: Figure of God the Father
Date of creation: 1758–1763
Technique: carving
Material: wood polychrome gilt
Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm): 160 x 108 x 70

Additionally

Type: sculpture
Genre: religious

Information about author

Author: Maciej Polejowski
Artist's lifetime: after 1734–1806
Biography: Maciej Polejowski (after 1734–1806) was a sculptor and an architect of Lviv; he is associated with the third period of Lviv Baroque sculpture, which lasted from 1770 till the end of the 18th century. Maciej Polejowski was one of the most talented followers of Johann Georg Pinsel, under whom he studied in Buchach. Stylistically, Maciej Polejowski's sculptural works refer to the Rococo style with some tending to Classicism. As the sculptor executed several orders simultaneously, he was assisted by a team of skilled workers. In 1764, like some Lviv sculptors, Maciej Polejowski 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. In 1766, Maciej Polejowski performed sculptural works in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Lviv; in 1768, he worked in the Monastery of the Basilian Monastic Order; in 1778, Polejowski carved a new part of the iconostasis in the form of an altar for the Church of St. Nicholas in Krekhiv; and in 1781, he signed an agreement to make 6 side altars in the Pochaiv Monastery of the Basilian Monastic Order. Maciej Polejowski was well-known in Galicia.

Object description

A sculpture of God the Father located in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Navariia is reproduced in the type of the S-shaped silhouette that was dominant in Baroque plastic. The figure on the earth's sphere is shown in a dynamic pose, with outstretched arms, and the head tilted to the left. The figure's facial features are carved in the manner typical of Maciej Polejowski. The sculpture has a high wrinkled forehead, large cheekbones, bulging almond-shaped eyes with an upward gaze and interestingly worked eyelashes along the edge of the upper eyelid, and a long beard. The folds of the sculpted figure, which are formed of abstract planes with a smooth surface curved at different angles emphasize the dynamism of the whole composition. The sculptor used Rococo motifs in his work.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Figure of God the Father

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