Male Saint
by GÜNTHER, Franz Ignaz, Painted wood, over life-size
In the German Rococo period a similarity with the Middle Ages is the vast scale of the new undertakings, and the fact that however beautiful the individual figures or groups or pieces, they were considered originally as part of a vast theatrical whole, and should always be considered in that context. Again, as in Gothic, they were usually dependent upon the use of colour and gilding, which was applied in the same traditional way as in the times of Riemenschneider, though perhaps to an even more lavish extent.. Ignaz G�nther possibly pre-eminent among the Bavarians, but he is closely followed up by a host of others.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 19 minutes):
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme