DONNER, Georg Raphael
(b. 1693, Esslingen, d. 1741, Vienna)

Saint Martin

1733-35
Lead, height 275 cm
Cathedral, Bratislava

The statue was commissioned by Primate Count Imre Esterházy, Archbishop of Esztergom for the new Baroque High Altar of the Pozsony (Bratislava) Cathedral which was erected instead of the old Gothic altar. The statue was removed during the neo-Gothic restoration of the Cathedral in 1865, but since 1912 it was placed in the south nave of the Cathedral. Two statues of the Baroque altar representing angels, also by Donner, are in the Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest.

The young Saint Martin on the rearing horse is depicted in Hungarian national ceremonial dress, and he bears the features of the young Imre Esterházy.