Max von Widnmann

Max von Widnmann was born in Eichstätt, the youngest of three sons of Franz Amand Widnmann, who held the positions of court, town and regional physician, and his wife Maximiliana née Pöckhel, who also served as a town and local physician.

His teachers made it possible for him to go to Rome from 1836 to 1839, and there he befriended and studied with Bertel Thorvaldsen, who was already a well-known sculptor.

[1][2] He was also a friend of the Cologne architect Sulpiz Boisserée, whose art collection was acquired by Ludwig I for the Alte Pinakothek in 1827.

After returning from Rome, Widnmann became an independent artist in Munich, where Ludwig I soon began to commission works from him, including portrait busts for the Walhalla memorial near Regensburg.

Widnmann's statues projected an air of dignity that appealed to his contemporaries and brought him many commissions; however, his smaller works, such as the busts, have been regarded as more artistically successful.