Ludwig Wilhelm Wichmann

Bust of the opera singer Henriette Sontag Bronze with fine green-gold patina. Engraved "W.Castner fec:" to the back of the shoulder. H 32 cm. With green serpentine base, total height 46 cm. Foundry Friedrich Wilhelm August Castner, the model by Ludwig Wilhelm Wichmann, 1827. Born in Koblenz, Henriette Sontag (1806 - 1854) was sent to the Prague Conservatory at the age of 16 to study singing, where Carl Maria von Weber discovered and supported her. After successes in Prague and Vienna, she received a call to Berlin, to the Königstädtisches Theater. She was appointed court and chamber singer. This was followed by performances on all the major European stages. Prince Hermann von Pückler (1785 - 1871) admired her and ordered a larger version of the cast from Wichmann, which is now displayed in the rose kiosk in Branitz Castle Park. The Potsdam-born sculptor Ludwig Wilhelm Wichmann (1788 - 1859) learned his art as a pupil of Johann Gottfried Schadow. He spent time in Paris from 1809 and worked under François Bosio and Jacques Louis David. Wichmann's plaster bust of the singer from 1827 is preserved in the collection of the Nationalgalerie Berlin (inv. no. G 34). The following year, Wichmann presented a marble version at the Berlin Academy Exhibition. This bronze bust of Henriette Sontag is evidence of Wichmann's collaboration with the Berlin sculptor and bronze caster Friedrich Wilhelm August Castner. Literature Cf. Maaz (ed.), Nationalgalerie Berlin. Inventory catalog of the sculptures. The XIXth Century, Berlin-Leipzig 2006, cat. No. 1383.