Location
Germany, Bavaria, Dießen
Parish church of the Assumption of Mary (Pfarrkirche Mariae Himmelfahrt)
Catholic parish Assumption of Mary Dießen
Artwork
The angel above the baptism font in the parish (former monastery) church Assumption of Mary, Dießen
Type
Sculpture
Critical History
The monastery church of the Assumption of Mary (Augustiner Chorherren) was built by Johann Michael Fischer from 1732 to 1739.1 It is equipped with 11 altars: a huge main altar, 8 side altars and 2 altars in the entrance hall executed by different artists (Ehrgott Bendl, Joachim Dietrich, Egid Verhelst, Franz X. Schmädl). The tables of the sidealtars are all made in the same form and material (stone/marble). Only the upper structure has an more or less individual character. Always two parallel altars are created by the same artist. In Dießen we don´t have sketches of of the altar or pulpit of J. B. Straub. The construction was built by a joiner, the sculptures were carved by J. B. Straub or by his staff. In the list of the most important works by J. B. Straub that J. C. Lippert edited in 1772 Dießen has the number 53. 2 The prize for 2 sidealtars each for 1277 fl and 1 pulpit for 9000 fl is documented. 3. Straub also was responsible for the realisation of 2 tabernacles on the 2 sidealtars of Ehrgott Bernhard Bendl (1660-31.01.1738), the balustrade of the organ choir and the decoration for the organ. Straub worked for this church at least from 1738–1740.
Construction / Execution
The so-called "Gloria-Angel" is carved in wood and has a polychrome painting layer. The sculpture is placed above the baptismal font in the entrance hall. The sculpture is hanging on a metal bar which is coming from the ceiling.
Components
- Sculpture
- The angel above the baptism font in the Parish (former Monastery) church Assumption of Mary, Dießen
- Author: Johann Baptist Straub (Wiesensteig ca. 1704 – Munich 1784)
- Completed: 1740 – 1750
- Technique(s): tempera, water gilding, wood carving
- Polychromy
- The angel above the baptism font in the Parish (former Monastery) church Assumption of Mary, Dießen
Comment
In former times there was the possibility to detach the cover of the baptism font with a mechanism coming from the ceiling. For the hanging of the angel this possibility was given up. We don´t know about the original place of this angel. Changes on the back of the angel and its wings hint at a function in the crown of a pulpit or of an altar. It is the only sculpture with a polychrome painting layer its wings are gilded. Steiner assumes that the angel might have been part of the altar that Straub had created for the monasterybuilding. After the dissolution of the monastery the angel might have found his new distinction. 4 The sculpture was adapted to its actual function to a unknown date (may be in the 1930th). The sculpture was restored by Prof. T. Roth (photo with a ribbon Steiner 1974 p.168) and in 1984 by a former practicant of the restoration workshop of the Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites (BLfD). Volk attributes the sculpture to J. B. Straub.
Conservation-restoration
- 1930
Treatment Description
The angel was restored by Prof. Toni Roth who edited in 1954 Max Doerner Malmaterial und seine Verwendung im Bilde. It seems that the sculpture was completely overpainted. The scripture ribbon dated from this time. (Ref. Documentation 1984 ZIII,BLfD)
- 1983/84
Strategy: removing one or several historic repolychromies
Treatment Description
The angel was examined and restored in the workshop of the Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites (BLfD) by a former practicant. (Reference BLfD Z III, documentation 1983/84). The polychromy of 1930 was removed together with the scripture ribbon. There are no details about the materials used. The hanging mechanism was changed in favour of the angel. The cover of the baptism font cannot be lifted mechanicaly any more.
Images
- The angel above the baptismal font in the parishchurch Assumption of Mary, Dießen photo Bavarian State Office of Monuments and Sites Michael Forstner 08.2017
Catalogue entry prepared by Rupert Karbacher
Recommended citation: Rupert Karbacher, The angel above the baptism font in the parish (former monastery) church Assumption of Mary, Dießen , in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 24/10/2025) URL
