Façade of building Albrechtgasse 6 (Fassade des Gebäudes Albrechtgasse 6)
Innere Stadt
Artwork
The sculpture of St Michael on the façade of Albrechtgasse 6, Graz
Type
Sculpture
Critical History
The three-storey, biaxially façade of the building Albrechtgasse 6 shows a coloured sandstone sculpture of St Michael standing in a semi-circular niche. Horst Schweigert attributed it to Philipp Jakob Straub (1760/70) and pointed out, that the sculpture is of the high technical quality and artistic meaningfulness typical for the artist’s other sandstone statues of that period – in contrast to the carvings, which already show classical tendencies.1 The saint is depicted in self-confident manner, holding a scale and a flaming sword. He stands with transfigured gaze in the classical contrapost.
Construction / Execution
The sculpture is made of carved sandstone.
Components
Sculpture
Author: Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706 – Graz 1774)
Completed: 1760 – 1770
Technique(s): stone carving
Material(s): sandstone
Polychromy
Completed: 1760 – 1770
Comment
The colouring shows spallings (especially on the face and the arms), the gilded areas have to be renewed.
Images
The sculpture of St Michael on the façade of Albrechtgasse 6, Graz (photo by Anja Lindbichler, 2018)
St Michael, Detail, façade of Albrechtgasse 6, Graz (photo by Anja Lindbichler, 2018)
St Michael, Detail, façade of Albrechtgasse 6, Graz (photo by Anja Lindbichler, 2018)
Catalogue entry prepared by Eva Klein and Christina Pichler
Recommended citation: Eva Klein and Christina Pichler, The sculpture of St Michael on the façade of Albrechtgasse 6, Graz, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 27/01/2026) URL
Sources and Bibliography
Horst Schweigert, Philipp Jakob Straub (1706–1774). Ein Grazer Barockbildhauer, in: Studien zur Kunstgeschichte Steiermarks, Horst Schweigert (ed.), Kumberg, Sublilium Schaffer Verlag, 1992, 309–329
