| dc.description.abstract | In 1751, Jerzy August Mniszech purchased a plot in Długie Ogrody Street: the area
where a large -scale residence was erected Its designer was most probably Pierre Ricaud
de Tirregaille An important element in shaping the spatial composition of the entire
palace and garden ensemble was formed by the main gate, characterized by an extremely
dynamic, sculptural form, typical of Rococo art At the top of the gate and on the fence
posts there were figures: personifications of Minerva and Ceres, four putti representing the seasons and vases At the beginning, the article presents the history and style
of the sculptures Then the question of attribution is discussed In literature, Johann
Heinrich Meissner is the most frequently indicated creator of the entire sculptural
ensemble This attribution, in view of the shortage of sources, requires confrontation
with other, preserved works of the artist Johann Heinrich Meissner (1701–1770) was
born in Królewiec He was present in Gdańsk, where from 1726 he owned a valued
workshop Having lived in the Old Town, near the Church of St Catherine, in 1755 he
moved to Długie Ogrody where he located his studio, so he was a direct witness to the
project carried out for Jerzy August Mniszech Meissner’s workshop created, among
other things, garden sculptures and elements of temple decorations Among the sacred
implementations, mention should be made of the decoration of the main altar in the
Cathedral in Frombork, which includes four full -figure angelic figures, vases, flames and
garlands made of pine wood Meissner was also responsible for the statues of angels from
the organ front in Gdańsk’s Church of St Mary, expanded in 1757–60 The soft modelling of forms precisely emphasizes the anatomy Figures’ gestures are naturalistic The
sculptures in front of the Mniszech Palace are stylistically different from them: strongly
stylized, exaggerated, they feature vibrating surface characteristic of the Rococo Their
authorship should therefore be associated with another sculpture workshop operating
in Gdańsk in the mid -18th century Another thread is the symbolic diagram of the fence
decoration In order to understand the ideological meaning of the figures in question, it
is necessary to juxtapose them with the iconography found in Gdańsk’s art (e g Minerva
decorated the façade of the Great Armory and the hall of the Main Town Hall, while the
statues of Ceres were placed at the tops of tenement houses) and with European trends. | pl_PL |
