{{foreignchar|ü|Andreas Schluter or Andreas Schlueter}}
[[Image:Kikin.jpg|thumb|300px|Kikin Palace in [[St Petersburg]] is often attributed to Schlüter, although there is no proof of his authorship]]
'''Andreas Schlüter''' ([[May 20]] [[1664]] or 1662 – May 1714) was a [[Germany|German]] [[baroque]] [[sculptor]] and [[architect]] associated with the [[Petrine Baroque]] style of architecture and decoration.

Schlüter's early life is obscure. His year of birth has been given as 1662 and 1664; he was possibly baptized on [[May 22]] [[1664]]. He may have been born in [[Hamburg]], where his father Gerhard Schlüter was from, but it is certain that he received training in [[Gdańsk|Danzig (Gdańsk)]] in [[Royal Prussia]], and may have been born there; another Andreas Schlüter died in Danzig in 1664.

Schlüter's first known work was the decoration of the [[facade]] of the Danzig Royal Chapel, in 1681. He later created statues for King [[John III Sobieski]]'s [[Wilanów Palace]] in [[Warsaw]] and sepulchral sculptures in [[Zhovkva|Żółkiew (Zhovkva)]]. In 1689, he moved to Warsaw and made the [[pediment]] reliefs and sculptural work of [[Jan Dobrogost Krasiński|Krasiński Palace]].

Schlüter was invited to [[Berlin]] in 1694 by [[Eberhard von Danckelmann]] to work as court sculptor at the [[Zeughaus]] for Elector [[Frederick I of Prussia|Frederick III]]. His sculpted decorations are a masterpiece of baroque expression and [[pathos]]. While the more visible reliefs on the outside had to praise fighting, the statues of dying warriors in the interior denounced war and gave an indication of his pacifist religious beliefs (he is said to have been a [[Mennonite]]). Travelling through Italy in 1696, he studied the work of masters like [[Michelangelo Buonarroti]] und [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]].

Schlüter also worked as an architect and built many state buildings in Berlin in his role of "Hofbaumeister" (Court Architect), which he lost when one tower showed signs of a weak fundament. He also served as director of the [[Akademie der Künste]] from 1702 to 1704, after which he began concentrating on sculpting again, as "Hofbildhauer" (Court Sculptor). His most important [[equestrian sculpture]] is that of the "Great Elector", [[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick William of Brandenburg]], cast in 1708 and placed at "Lange Brücke" near the [[Berlin City Palace]], now situated in the [[Charlottenburg Palace]].

The Berlin City Palace, and many of his works, were partially destroyed by bombing in [[World War II]] and by the subsequent [[German Democratic Republic|Communist regime]]. A similar fate probably happened to the [[Amber Room]], made between 1701 and 1709, Schlüter's most famous work of architecture.

In 1713 Schlüter's fame brought him to work for Tsar [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] in [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]], where he died of an illness after creating several designs. Together with [[Johann Friedrich Braunstein]], he designed the Grand Palace and [[Monplaisir]] Palace in [[Peterhof]]. Also the city's oldest building, Kikin's Palace, and the reliefs at the [[Summer Palace]] are attributed to him.

==Extant works==
*[[facade]] of the Royal Chapel, [[Gdańsk]], 1681
*Sculptures on the [[Facade (Architecture)|facade]] of [[Wilanów Palace]], [[Warsaw]], after 1681
*Sculptures on the [[Pediment|pediment]] of [[Krasiński Palace]], Warsaw, 1682-3, 1689-93
*[[Epitaph]] of Adam Zygmunt Konarski, St. Mary's Cathedral of the Assumption, [[Frombork]], after 1683
*[[altar]] and crucifix in church, [[Węgrów]] near Warsaw, 1688-90
*sepulchral sculptures of the [[Sobieski]] family, [[Zhovkva]] near [[Przemyśl]], 1692-93
*[[altar]] in Czerniaków church, Warsaw, 1690
*portrait bishop Jan Małachowski in [[Wawel Cathedral]], [[Kraków]] 1693
* Statue of Elector [[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick William]] on horse, [[Charlottenburg]], [[Berlin]], 1689-1703 [http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/s/schluter/]

==References==
{{Unreferenced|date=November 2007}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Andreas Schlüter}}
*[http://nevsky-prospekt.com/kikin.html English site about Kikin's Palace (Mansion House)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schluter, Andreas}}
[[category:1660s births]]
[[Category:1714 deaths]]
[[Category:Baroque architects]]
[[Category:Baroque sculptors]]
[[Category:German architects]]
[[Category:German sculptors]]
[[Category:People from Gdańsk]]
[[Category:People from Hamburg]]
[[Category:People from Royal Prussia]]
[[Category:History of Berlin]]
[[Category:History of Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:History of Warsaw]]

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