WOLFF, Albert - b. 1814 Neustrelitz, d. 1892 Berlin

German sculptor. The son of the Neustrelitz sculptor and master builder Christian Philipp Wolff (b 1772), he went to Berlin in 1831 to study at the Akademie and subsequently gained acceptance in the studio of the sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch, a friend of his father’s. He worked in Rauch’s studio for 15 years, helping with the execution of the bronze figure group of Polish Princes (1828-41; Poznan, Cathedral), the statues of Victories for Leo von Klenze’s Valhalla in Munich (e.g. Victory Throwing a Garland, marble, 1841; Berlin, Nationalgalerie), and the marble sarcophagus for Queen Frederica of Hannover (1841-47; in situ) in the Herrenhausen, Hannover.

Among Wolff’s first independent works was a bronze figure of a girl with a lamb, known as Innocence (1836; Berlin, Berlin Museum). On commission from Count Edward Raczynski, Wolff produced the over life-size seated figure of Countess Constantia Potocka Raczynski as Hygieia (bronze, 1840-41; in situ, Plac Wolnosc) for the Priessnitz Fountain in Poznan. In 1844-45, Wolff was in Italy (mainly Rome and Carrara), where he executed the charming Children’s Fountain, intended for Sanssouci (marble replica, 1844-9; Neustrelitz, Stadtpark).

He set up his own studio after returning from Italy. From 1866 he was a successful teacher at the academy in Berlin.

Lion Fighter

The original of this group was used for cast of sculpture in Philadelphia. where a large German-speaking population had settled relatively early. In the square in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art an equestrian statue of George Washington was erected by the German sculptor Rudolf Siemering (1835-1905). The grandiose flight of steps behind him are flanked by casts of two sculptures from the Rauch school: on the left the Lion Fighter by Albert Wolff, and on the right the Amazon by August Kiss.