Johann Dominik Mahlknecht

Dominik Mahlknecht, like many young people from Val Gardena, began sculpting at an early age. In the early 19th century, he moved to Lyon and worked for the Val Gardena merchant family Sanoner. To improve his skills, he later worked in the workshops of sculptors in Le Mans and Nantes, creating portrait busts and monumental statues primarily in plaster and stone. He became Nantes’ city sculptor and was granted the title Sculptor of His Royal Highness before being assigned a studio in Paris. His turn towards neobaroque and new decorative programs placed Mahlknecht among the avant-garde in France. The Val Gardena native, who had adopted French citizenship, passed away in Paris in 1876.

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