DONNER, Georg Raphael

Georg Raphael Donner, one of the most prominent sculptors in 18th-century Europe, was employed by Archbishop Imre Esterh�zy in Pozsony (Bratislava), then the capital of Hungary. The high altar of the Cathedral in Pozsony was his most significant accomplishment; under a baldachin, the mounted figure of St. Martin, titular saint of the church, was depicted sharing his cloak with a beggar seated on the ground. The sculpture bore the features of the doner, Imre Esterh�zy, and wore a typically Hungarian costume. The scene was watched by two large “Adoring Angels”. The Baroque high altar was dismantled during the 19th century; the groups of St. Martin and the beggar today stands in the side aisle of the church, while the two angels are in the Hungarian National Gallery.

The angels were molded in 1733-1735, and represent the artistic development of Donner starting from Baroque tradition and arriving at a more individual Neo-Classical style. The high altar was cast in alloy of lead and tin - a material often used by Donner. The artist was helped by a number of assistants in the process of casting. The experience of these helpers and the direct example of his sculptures in Pozsony had a major impact on the development of Hungarian Baroque sculpture.

This work belongs to the twenty-eight busts which decorated the former choir stalls of St. Martin’s Church in Pozsony (Bratislava). The bearded male bust probably represents an apostle or a prophet. It was made on the basis of Donner’s design by one of his assistants whose identity is hitherto unknown, but he certainly worked on the other busts of the series as well. The figure is somewhat related to some other bearded older male figures in Donner’s “oeuvre”, but falls behind in suggestiveness. The extremely long nose and the great eyes sitting under strong modelled eyebrows are also characteristic of other figures of the same wood-carver. The forked beard, which can also be observed on other busts of the same series, is similar to the beard of Donner’s Enns figure on the Viennese “Providentiabrunnen”. The smooth modelling and quiet manner of the face offer some contrast to the ecstatic expression of the half-opened mouth. This motif, hardly used by Donner, was a common Baroque technique for emotionalizing the look of the represented person.

At the bottom of the bust there is engraved the Roman numeral VIII. Hence the work might have originally stood in the eight place on the right or left side of the stalls. The circular socle was added certainly after 1867, the date when the stalls were moved from their original place.

The most famous work of the artist is the Danube Well, originally designed for the Mehlmarkt in Vienna. The central figure is the seated Providence surrounded by putti. On the corners of the original basin four figures personified the four most important tributaries of the Danube: the Traun, the Enns, the March, and the Ybbs.

The statue is the central figure of the fountain erected at the Mehlmarkt in Vienna. The picture shows the original location.

The river Enns is personified by an old man. Making the sculpture quite independent, the artist softens the Baroque style with a typical Viennese taste for playful or elegiac sweetness. He looks forward to classicism and at the same time to Romantic sensitivity.

The river March is personified by a young woman.

This is a late work of the artist, showing both Baroque, Rococo, and even Neoclassicist elements.

The statue was commissioned by Primate Count Imre Esterh�zy, Archbishop of Esztergom for the new Baroque High Altar of the Pozsony (Bratislava) Cathedral which was erected instead of the old Gothic altar. The statue was removed during the neo-Gothic restoration of the Cathedral in 1865, but since 1912 it was placed in the south nave of the Cathedral. Two statues of the Baroque altar representing angels, also by Donner, are in the Magyar Nemzeti Gal�ria, Budapest.

The young Saint Martin on the rearing horse is depicted in Hungarian national ceremonial dress, and he bears the features of the young Imre Esterh�zy.

This dignified relief, treated on pictorial lines, was made by Donner between 1730 and 1740. The high relief of the figures leads by gradual and subtle transition to the comparatively low relief details of the background. The light and colour of the lead make these fine transitions of form still more soft and subtle. The Goddess of Love, whose slender, graceful form is half covered by a veil, stands in the more prominent section on the right. Her husband, the giant figure of Vulcan, the forger of weapons, turns from his work towards her. The distribution of mass and the rhythmic harmony of the two groups produce a well-balanced composition.