GÜNTHER, Franz Ignaz
(b. 1725, Altmannstein, d. 1775, München)

Male Saint

1759-63
Painted wood, over life-size
Parish Church, Rott-am-Inn

In the German Rococo period a similarity with the Middle Ages is the vast scale of the new undertakings, and the fact that however beautiful the individual figures or groups or pieces, they were considered originally as part of a vast theatrical whole, and should always be considered in that context. Again, as in Gothic, they were usually dependent upon the use of colour and gilding, which was applied in the same traditional way as in the times of Riemenschneider, though perhaps to an even more lavish extent.. Ignaz Günther possibly pre-eminent among the Bavarians, but he is closely followed up by a host of others.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 19 minutes):
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme