Location
Germany, Bavaria, Munich
Munich Bavarian National Museum (München Bayerisches Nationalmuseum)
Artwork
The sculpture of Mars and its bozzetto from the former Törring Palace in Munich in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich
Type
Sculpture
Critical History
For the palace of the Törring-Jettenbach family near the residence of the Bavarian Court J. B. Straub created 9 sculptures of more than life-size. There were 8 putti which probably held attributes of the sculptures. The sculptures represented antique gods like e. g. Diana and Mars, or Roman Emperors like Augustus (?). Not all the sculptures can be identified exactly because the attributes are lost. 1Together with the inventory numbers, the sculpture have names: Ceres, inv. no. L 19/150, Diana, inv. no. L 46/95, Hebe inv. no. L 46/97.1-2, Imperator inv. no. L 19/151, Jupiter inv. no. L 46/96, Kybele inv. no. L 46/94, Mars, inv. no. L 46/91, Minerva inv. no. L 46/93,/1-2. Venus inv. no. L 46/92.1-2. In the palace the sculptures had been installed in the staircase and vestibule. The gilder Aloys Thurner received the remainder of a payment for painting the sculptures (white with partial gildings) in 1774. Lippert mentioned these works of art in his list (1772) even though they were shown in the palace in 1773, one year later than the publication of his "Kurzgefaßte Nachrichten...."2
Three of the bozzetti Straub had modelled in terracotta for this sculptural cycle belong to the collections of the Bavarian National Museum in Munich. The bozzetto is 45.3 cm high.2
The inv. no. of the bozzetto is R 7817 for the wooden sculpture L 46/91. The photos have the no. D103447 (wooden sculpture) and D28181 (bozzetto).
The link to the website of the museum is: www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de
Construction / Execution
The sculpture is carved in wood. The original painting layer imitated white stone (marble) without any gilding of details. The bozzetto is made of terracotta.
Components
- Sculpture
- The sculpture of Mars
- Author: Johann Baptist Straub (Wiesensteig ca. 1704 – Munich 1784)
- Completed: 1772
- Material(s): terracotta
- Sculpture
- The bozzetto of Mars
- Author: Johann Baptist Straub (Wiesensteig ca. 1704 – Munich 1784)
- Completed: 1772
- Patron(s): Maximilian Emanuel von Törring-Jettenbach, noble
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Polychromy
- The bozzetto of Mars
- Author: Aloys Thurner
- Completed: 1772
- Patron(s): Maximilian Emanuel von Törring-Jettenbach, noble
- Technique(s): oily tempera
- Material(s): Champagne chalk, dolomite, lead white, oil, organic black, protein
Comment
During her diploma thesis in 2006 (TU-München RKK), Sophie Eichner examined the nine sculptures that are now in the Bavarian National Museum. The results are collected in her printed diploma thesis "Ein Skulpturenzyklus von Johann Baptist Straub. Neun antike Gottheiten aus dem Treppenhaus des ehem. Palais Toerring in München."
The monochrome painting layer imitated white stone. The surface was not polished. There was no partial gilding, as Volk presumed. Two overpaintings might have been executed in 1835 in the context of architectural changes in the function of the palace, when it became the Main Postoffice. In 1898 there was a renovation of this building this might be the reason for a second overpainting.3
Images
- Munich Bavarian National Museum, the bozzetto of Mars
- Munich Bavarian National Museum, the sculpture of Mars
Catalogue entry prepared by Rupert Karbacher
Recommended citation: Rupert Karbacher, The sculpture of Mars and its bozzetto from the former Törring Palace in Munich in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich , in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 21/10/2025) URL
