field marshal in the Imperial Army and statesman of the Holy Roman Empire. He is remembered as one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history, and he rose through the ranks of state to the highest offices at the Imperial court in Vienna.

Guillielmus de Grof was born in Antwerp in 1676. After training in his native city he worked in in Paris and Munich as court sculptor, firstly to King Louis XIV. Primarily a metal sculptor, De Grof was a versatile artist who could work in many materials. His style combined the court aesthetic of Louis XIV with the exuberant Flemish Baroque, which had its roots in Rubens’ work. In 1714, when Maximilian Emanuel was in Paris, he took De Grof into his service, and the sculptor travelled to Munich in the spring of 1716, where he carried out a wide range of activities

as the leading court sculptor until his death in 1742.

In Munich, De Grof set up a ‘state studio’ in the Herzog-Max-Burg. It became a large workshop, which employed fourteen journeymen and had a foundry. He held a prominent social position among the artists at the Munich court, and on occasion self-confidently expressed his claim to be viewed as a free artist whose work could not be compared with that of craftsmen. In 1714 he created his seminal equestrian group, the magnificent bronze Apotheosis of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, inv. no. R3973). From what is known of his work, his style is characterised by the dynamic design of the hair and drapery in his portraits and the inclusion of rich ornamental details.