Statuette - Allegory of Victory

Johann Joseph Niedermeyer (active: 1747–1784), the talented pupil of Georg Raphael Donner (1693–1741) served several productive decades as model maker to the imperial porcelain factory in Vienna. Donner’s influence persisted throughout his career, especially on his mythological and allegorical compositions. One of the former, a statue group of Io, Argos and Hermes, also forms part of the Museum of Applied Arts’ collection, as do several items from a series of small sculptures of Vienna traders, modelled with exceptional accuracy. The Allegory of Victory statue group, displaying late baroque pathos, is painted in pastel colours and some gold. The figure of Heracles, on a floral base laid out with undulating rocaille motifs stands tallest, with a helmet in place of the lion’s head, armour on his breast, a sword instead of an enormous stick, the skin of the lion of Nemea on his arm, and the Gorgon’s head on his shield. Beside him sits Bellona, who raises her gaze to the hero, and in front of them lies a female figure on her back, embodying the condemned cardinal sin of Envy. The artist presumably saw the fated destruction of an enemy, the image of evil, as a counterpoint to the praise of martial virtues and the triumph of virtue in general. Above the two central figures of the composition is the winged goddess of fame Fama, raising the wreath of victory above Heracles’ head and blowing her trumpet to proclaim his glory. Cannonballs and guns lie in a circle at the bottom, and the banners of victory fly behind the figures.