A bronze bust of the opera singer Henriette Sontag

A bronze bust of the opera singer Henriette Sontag

Engraved "W.Castner fec:" on the back of the shoulder base. H 32 cm. Total H with green serpentine base 46 cm.
Foundry of Friedrich Wilhelm August Castner, 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) adored 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) was a pupil of Johann Gottfried Schadow. He moved to Paris in 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. Bestandskatalog der Skulpturen. Das XIX. Jahrhundert, Berlin-Leipzig 2006, cat. no. 1383.