AUSTRIA MEDAL in Case 1893 by Schwartz Georg Raphael Donner 69mm Hauser 2091 (6)

AUSTRIA

BRONZE MEDAL 1893
by S. Schwartz.

Georg Raphael Donner (1693-1741)

On the sculptor's 200th birthday; dedicated
by the Cooperative of Fine Artists in Vienna.

Obv: half figure to the right; holding a
hammer.

Rev: View of the center figure "Prudence" of the Donner fountain on the Neuer
Markt.

Hauser 2091.



Condition: UNC. Original Case included.



Weight: 118.33 g.

Diameter: 69 mm.

Georg Rafael Donner (24 May 1693 – 15
February 1741) was one of the most prolific Austrian sculptors of the 18th
century. His style was baroque with some pseudo-ancient additions. He educated
many German sculptors of his era, including his son Matthäus Donner.



Donner was born in Essling, Vienna. His work was inspired by nature and by
antique sculpture which was deposited in the Vienna's academy.[citation needed]
One of Donner's most famous works is Donnersteig in Mirabel Castle, Salzburg
(1725–1727), for which he sculpted life-size marble figures. From 1728 he worked
in Pozsony at the court of count-bishop Emeric (or Imre) Esterházy, where he
sculpted a gravestone for Bishop Esterházy and a horse monument of St. Martin.
For almost 10 years he had his studio in the garden of the Summer Archbishop's
Palace, at that time just outside Pozsony. In Vienna he created two fountains:
Fountain of Austria's rivers (1737–1739) and the source with the sculptures of
Perzei and Andromeda in front of the City Hall (1739). One of his last works is
the Pieta at the cathedral in Gurk (1741). He died in Vienna.



Georg Rafael Donner was recently selected as the main motif of the Austrian gold
euro commemorative coin: The sculpture coin was issued on 13 November 2002. The
obverse has a portrait of Donner, with the Palace of the Lower Belvedere in the
background. This palace is currently the museum of baroque art in Vienna, and
contains much of Donner's work.

 Ref 20 166