For the history of 18th-century sculpture from the territory of the Republic, the key phenomenon is the Lvov rococo sculpture. Jan Jerzy Pinsel is considered its main representative. Although he was mainly associated with Buczacz, one of his most important works was created for the parish church in Hodovitsa, near Lviv. The group of altar sculptures intended for this church included the eponymous Samson fighting a lion.

The church in Hodovitsa was designed by Bernard Meretyn. The arrangement of the temple's presbytery, on the other hand, was created in collaboration with Johann Georg Pinsel and his workshop. The architectural part here consisted of illusionist paintings with a group of full-plastic sculptures in the background. In the central niche was a crucifix, adored by figures of angels. Further on, on decorative consoles, were figures of Mary and St John. The whole was closed by the sculptural groups of the Sacrifice of Abraham and Samson fighting a lion. These latter depictions were not found here by accident. Already since the Middle Ages, they have been regarded as events that in a way foreshadow two of the aspects of the Passion (voluntary sacrifice and victory over evil) and have been linked with Passion scenes, as in this case with the Crucifixion scene.

Samson fighting a lion

The sculpture Samson fighting a lion depicts the biblical hero defeating the animal with his bare hands. With his right knee, he presses the lion to the ground, which has been toppled to the side, while tearing at its mouth. This expressive composition was executed in wood, polychrome and partially gilded. Originally, the figure of Samson was much more modestly clad. The robes, made of thick plaster-soaked and gilded fabric, were added later, probably at the founder's request. Decoratively treated draperies, reminiscent of bent sheet metal, are a characteristic feature of Lvov rococo sculpture. Other features are the dynamism of the representation and the strong expression of the figures, which in the case of the work in question were given priority over anatomical correctness. The exaggerated musculature of Samson, with the simultaneous ascetic expression of his figure, and the abstract representation of the lion, created from swirling flame-like forms, are astonishing.

A similar composition, but executed in stone, was created by Pinsel before 1750 for the Buczacz Town Hall. It originally adorned the building's attic, but due to the adverse effects of the weather and the building's fire in 1865, it has survived to the present day in a residual state.

As an iconographic model for the sculpture Samson fighting a lion, Jan K. Ostrowski, a Polish art historian, points to the composition developed by the Italian sculptor Stefan Maderna in his work Hercules killing a lion from 1621. (now in the Cà d'Oro in Venice). This representation, by means of casts and engravings, was widely disseminated in Europe in the 18th century. It was certainly known in Munich, Prague and Vienna, i.e. in the main centres of Central European late Baroque sculpture, which Jan Jerzy Pinsel must have rubbed shoulders with at some point in his journeyman's journey.

Master Pinsel

Still little is known about Pinsel's biography and workshop training. Before art historians were able to establish his name, he was referred to simply as Master Pinsel in the literature. He arrived in the Republic of Poland around 1750, probably from southern Germany or Bohemia. He settled in Buczacz, where he worked for Mikołaj Bazyli Potocki, the starost of Kaniów. There, in 1751, he married Marianna Elżbieta Kieytowa, née Majewska, with whom he had two sons.

We become acquainted with Pinsel mainly through his sculptural works, which he created in Lviv (for St George's Cathedral), Monasterzyska, Buczacz, Horodenka and Hodovitsa, among others. Most of them were intended for buildings designed by his long-time collaborator and friend, the architect Bernard Meretyn. He carved mainly in wood and was a woodcarver who achieved mastery in his profession. Only a few of his well-known works, such as the aforementioned sculpture from Buczacz, were created in stone. Some of them are decorated with naturalistic polychrome and gilding (in Hodovica), others are covered with uniform white paint (in Horodenka). Of the Central European sculptors of the first half of the 18th century, the artistically closest to Pinsel was Matthias Bernhard Braun from Prague.

Jan Jerzy Pinsel probably died in 1761. He left behind numerous pupils and followers, including Piotr Polejowski and Antoni Osiński.

Museum of Jan Jerzy Pinsel in Lviv

When the church in Hodovitsa was finally closed in the early 1960s, most of the sculptural equipment in it passed to the collection of the Lviv Picture Gallery (now the Boris Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery) and was placed in its branch in Olesko. A fire broke out in the temple in the 1970s, as a result of which it lost most of its vaults and is now in a state of far-reaching ruin.

The sculpture of Samson fighting a lion, as well as other works by Jan Jerzy Pinsel, can be viewed in the artist's museum located in the former Poor Clares Church in Lviv.