STRUDEL, Paul

(b. 1648 Cles, d. 1708 Wien)

Austrian sculptor, architect, and engineer, ennobled as Baron von Strudel and Vochburg. He was the son of a sculptor working in Cles in Tyrol. He studied with his father and with Johann Karl Loth in Venice. In 1684, he came to Vienna, where he made three statues for the Prince of Liechtenstein.

In 1686 he was employed at the Hofburg court. Here he followed the style of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and cooperated mostly with his brother Peter Strudel (1660-1714).

The most important works of Paul Strudel are the large statues from white marble for the ancestor gallery of the Habsburgs. In 1696, he received the order from Emperor Leopold I, on the condition to deliver, every three years, two figures. Up to his death, he had delivered 16 figures: the remaining 15 (of the total 31) statues were created by his younger brother.

Strudel was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of Vienna’s Plague Column from 1686 until its completion in 1693. He was also commissioned by the prince of Liechtenstein, Prince-Bishop Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein, to create some monumental statues for his Moravian palaces in Valtice and Lednice.

Emperor Leopold I and Allegory of Faith

Strudel was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of Vienna’s Plague Column from 1686 until its completion in 1693. He executed the prominent sculptures on the plinth. On the main face is the Allegory of Faith, in which the plague is pushed into the depth by a woman, while above, the kneeling emperor calls for divine assistance.

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Mater Dolorosa

This figure is part of a Pietà group on the crypt altar in the Capuchin church in Vienna. It is a common work of the brothers Paul and Peter Strudel.

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The Plague Column

Strudel was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of Vienna’s Plague Column from 1686 until its completion in 1693.

The Trinity Column or Plague Column is a highly important monument. Situated in the Graben in Vienna, it was built as a result of Emperor Leopold I’s vow in 1679 to erect such a memorial in honour of the Holy Trinity in order to hasten the end of the plague. A design was first sought from Matthias Rauchmiller to replace an early temporary wooden column with a marble structure but his scheme was never carried out. Eventually an amended design by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Ludovico Burnacini was erected. The plinth is triangular, symbolizing the Trinity, and each face is devoted to one of the three divine aspects. Six reliefs were executed by Johann Ignaz Bendl, and Paul Strudel executed the prominent sculptures on the plinth.

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