A CARVED LIMEWOOD FIGURE OF THE MADONNA IMMACULATA

Johann Wolfgang von der Auwera (Würzburg 1708-1756) trained under his father and at the Akademie in Vienna from 1730-1736, when he returned to Würzburg where he was appointed court sculptor to the Prince-Bishop in 1738. He was an accomplished sculptor whose brilliantly complex Rococo church decorations had paramount influence in the development of that style in Würzburg. Auwera's work is prolific and varied, he worked on church interiors, garden statuary, epitaths facades. For most of his work he would make a sketch and or a terracotta bozzeto. The Mainfränkisches Museum, Würzburg, and the Martin Wagner Museum of the University of Würzburg hold a number of these drawings and bozzetti.