High-resolultion photograph(s) Download

Lazar Widemann is among the best High Baroque sculptors who lived and worked in Bohemia. The overwhelming majority of his work, commissions for the Counts of Vrtba, was created in western and central Bohemia. The family of counts even funded his attendance at Accademia del Disegno in Florence, where he learned to work in marble and alabaster. In addition to monumental sculptures used to decorate churches and palace facades, Widemann focused small genre sculptures. His marble statues portraying ancient mythical themes, which he started to work on following his return from Italy, are well-known. The sculpture on auction shows a clear similarity with his small marble and alabaster works; the closest is the sculpture of Saturn carrying away his children from the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The model for Widemann was certainly a drawing by Jan Muller from around 1602 - Hercules killing the Hydra, which was created by the statue of Adrian de Vries from 1597. Hercules is depicted in mid-swing fighting with the sinuous hydra. The composition demonstrates strong dynamics and expressiveness, indicating the work was created during Widemann's prime around 1750. Gilded and patinated wood.