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19The Leuchtenberg monument  The Leuchtenberg monument in the left transept of the church acts like a foreign body in this room. Augusta Amalia, daughter of the first Bavarian King Maximilian Joseph, had it built for her deceased husband (in 1824) Eugen Napoleon. The Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen created the figure of the Duke: As a hero he has taken off his armour and the laurel wreath from his head. So he takes leave of life. Clio, the muse of history, records his deeds. The genii of life and death, executed by Thorvaldsen’s student Pietro Tenerani, are holding torches, the light of life, in their hands. Above the door which leads out of this world, the heraldic motto of the deceased is written: "Honneur et fidélité" – honor and fidelity. This monument does not blend in with the church: It does not fit in with the other images and figures, with the proclamation of the Christian faith. It is a discrete, isolated work of art. |