Sculptor

Georg Raphael Donner

The supreme sculptor of the Austrian Baroque. Georg Raphael Donner brought classical refinement and emotional restraint to Central European sculpture, a counterpoint to the exuberant dynamism of the High Baroque.…

Born24 May 1693, Steyregg, Upper Austria
Died15 February 1741, Vienna
NationalityAT

The supreme sculptor of the Austrian Baroque. Georg Raphael Donner brought classical refinement and emotional restraint to Central European sculpture, a counterpoint to the exuberant dynamism of the High Baroque. Working in lead rather than marble, he achieved a silvery, fluid quality in his figures that remains immediately distinctive.

In Salzburg, his lead allegorical figures adorn the fountain basin in Mirabell Gardens, among the most graceful sculptural accents in any European baroque garden. Visitors photographing the Pegasus Fountain and the city panorama toward Hohensalzburg Fortress walk past his work daily.