On Thu 8th March 1731

Death of Ferdinand Maxmilián Brokoff, Baroque Sculptor

Ferdinand Maxmilian Brokoff (Czech: Ferdinand Maxmilián Brokoff, 12 September 1688 in Červený Hrádek near Chomutov, Bohemia - 8 March 1731 in Prague) was a sculptor and carver of the Baroque era.

He was born as the second son of Jan Brokoff and his wife Elisabeth and soon his talent surpassed his older brother as well as his father and Ferdinand Brokoff's work is thus often equalized in importance with the work of Matthias Braun. In the beginning he mostly helped his father but since 1708 he worked independently and two years later, in the age of 22, he acquiered reputation for his work on several statues on the Charles Bridge in Prague (the statuary of St. Adalbert, the statue of St. Gaetano, the sculpture group of Francis Borgia, the statues of St. Ignatius and Francis Xaverius, statuary of Saints John of Matha, Felix of Valois and Ivo including the famous statue of Turk, etc).

Around 1714 Ferdinand Brokoff began to cooperate with the Austrian architect Johann Fischer von Erlach and moved to Vienna (while still working for Prague commissions, too) where he worked on the church of St. Charles Borromei. He was also active in Silesia (Wrocław), but had to come back to Prague soon, owing to a progressing tuberculosis illness. Nevertheless, he continued to sculpt in Prague and made some significant pieces during the 1720s, such as the monumental statuary and pillar at the Hradčany square (Hradčanské náměstí, 1726). Around that time (1722) he was also supposed to create 13 pieces of the Calvary to put in the niches of the New Castle Stairway, a project that was never realized.

Towards the end of his life, the illness gradually prevented him from working alone, thus he only created the designs and models and had them realized by his younger cooperators.