Lot 70: Ignaz Günther (1725-1775) German, Munich, 1760-1770 , a polychrome corpus

Christ with His head bowed to the left, a nail in each foot, an INRI plaque above, on an associated cross

measurements note corpus: 59cm., 23¼in. cross: 116cm., 45¾in.

Vom Zeichentisch eines Rokokobildhauers, Studio-Austellung zum 250 Geburtstag Ignaz Günthers (Stadtmuseum, Munich, 28th August - 23rd Nov 1975)

G. Woeckl, Franz Ignaz Günther - Der große Bildhauer des bayerischen Rokoko, (Regensburg 1977), pp. 36, 61

Most probably made for Johann Maximilian V Graf von Preysing-Hohenaschau (1736-1827)
Preysing-Schlößl in Haidhausen (one of Count Preysing's smaller castles near Munich which was demolished in 1843)
Gifted to the convent of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd around 1840 (the convent was built on the ground of the demolished Preysing-Schlößl, Preysingstr. 83, München-Haidhausen)
Sold in 1965 when the convent moved to Pullach

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, MUNICH
The present corpus was exhibited in the Munich Stadtmuseum's Ignaz Günther 250th birthday exhibition in 1975 and attributed to Günther by Gerhard Woeckl in his 1977 monograph. In a letter of 1982 Arno Schönberger also confirmed the work was by Ignaz Günther and dated it to the 1760s. The corpus can be closely compared to three others dating between 1760 and 1770. The earliest dates to 1763-64 and is in the Pfarrkirche, Altmannsteinn. The careful description of the musculature and the pathos of expression resonate strongly with the present corpus. A comparison for the perizonium with the drapery over the proper left hip can be found in the corpus in Munich's Historisches Stadtmuseum, dating to 1770. Perhaps the closest comparison is found in the processional cross in the Augustian church of Ss Peter and Paul, Weyarn. As in the present corpus the head is bowed low, almost to the chest, with the eyes almost closed and the mouth open to show the parched tongue.

Günther's corpora have a particularly expressive quality which lends gravity to their rococo elongation and nervousness. The Pfarrkirche corpus was not a commission but rather a pious gift from the artist to his parish. The corpora are imbued with a personal sentiment which makes them intensely moving, and the present example is no exception. Günther creates a poignant contrast between the limp deadness of Christ's body and the animated drapery rippling in the breeze. The realism of the delicately carved nude is heightened by the use of polychromy. The effect is tender and evocative.

Ignaz Günther was one of the most original sculptors of the 18υth century and his distinctive style was hugely influential across Germany. His first training was with his father, the cabinet maker Johann Georg Günther. In 1743 Ignaz moved to Munich to join the workshop of Johann Baptist Straub before making his journeyman's travels, visiting Salzburg, Mannheim and Moravia. In 1753 he settled in Munich and the following year became court sculptor under Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria.

RELATED LITERATURE
P. Volk, "Günther, Ignaz" Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, http://www.groveart.com; P. Volk & A. & I. Hirmer, Rokokoplastik (Munich, 1981) no. 67, p. 71; P. Volk, Ignaz Günther: Vollendung des Rokoko, Regensburg, 1991, p. 146; A. Scönberger, Ignaz Günther, (Munich, 1954) nos. E17 - E19, 76-77, pp. 52-54, 77