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Angel's Head

Johann (Jan) Pfister

Basic information

ID: С-I-2078
Author: Johann (Jan) Pfister
Name: Angel's Head
Date of creation: 17th c.
Country: Ukraine
Technique: carving polychromy gilding
Material: wood
Dimensions: 28 x 14 x 6 cm (height x width x depth)

Additionally

Type: sculpture 3D
Genre: religious
Plot: Angel

Information about author

Author: Johann (Jan) Pfister
Artist's lifetime: 1573–1640/1642
Biography: Johann (Jan) Pfister (Jan Hanusz-Snycerz) – a sculptor of German origin, was born in 1573 in the city of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) into the family of the painter and sculptor Georg Pfister. He studied under master craftsmen from the Netherlands and Germany (Hans Fleiser, Friedrich Gross, Gerhardt Hendrik). Pfister is considered the most outstanding sculptor of the turn of the 16th–17th centuries who worked in the territories of present-day Ukraine and Poland. He worked predominantly in marble and alabaster, and less frequently in wood. He executed his finest works in Lviv, Berezhany, and Tarnów.
Starting from 1615, commissioned by Adam Hieronim Sieniawski, he began working in Berezhany on the tomb monuments of the noble Sieniawski family: Adam Hieronim and his three sons – Aleksander, Mikołaj, and Prokop. He led a woodcarving school in the town. Working as the court sculptor to the Sieniawskis, he carved altar compositions in the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Bishche in the Ternopil region, which also belonged to the family. The master worked on the decoration of the altar during the 1630s. Pfister proved himself a highly professional artist who took his first creative steps under the influence of German-Netherlandish Mannerism.

Object description

The angel's head was a decorative element of the temple interior. Similar images of cherubs, often used as symbols of heavenly protection, purity, and spiritual power, were frequently employed in the Baroque period to adorn altar compositions in churches. They personify the spiritual presence in a holy place. The angel's head is slightly tilted to the left. The neck is surrounded by a drapery formed by smooth, soft folds. A high open forehead, a snub nose, plump cheeks, a clearly defined beard, and dominant red lips characterise the image. The angel's eyes are framed by clear lines of weighted eyelids, set under the high arches of the eyebrows, slightly lowered. The elongated oval face is framed by lush, golden hair, with carefully crafted, smooth lines of the sculptor's incisor, rhythmically arranged curls, and a pushed-back bang. His expression is peaceful. The skillfully plasticised head of the angel is characterised by a high level of professional skill. The work is an important example of sacred art; such sculptures had both aesthetic and spiritual functions, helping to create an atmosphere of majesty and holiness in the temple interior. The work with the inventory number С-І-2077, which also comes from the village of Volytsia, is similar in its manner of execution and interpretation of the image.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Angel's Head

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