Józef Antoni Kraus

Joseph Anthony Kraus was a German sculptor of the eighteenth century, working primarily in Poland. His date of birth and death are unknown.

In 1705, in Berlin he married Elisabeth née Frauensohn. He was associated with the workshop of the royal sculptor Georg Gottfried Weyhenmeyera, where he had the opportunity to work with Andreas Schlüter. In 1708, he came to Słobity, where in 1719 commissioned by Alexander zu Dohna, for whom he created sculptural decorations of the palace and park. In 1711 he lived in Königsberg, where worked on additional projects. He was active in Kwidzyń, where he decorated two confessionals for the cathedral in 1716. He is also credited with the altar of the church of St. John the Baptist in Bartoszyce (1715 to 1720). In 1716, at the request of Bogusława von Döhnhoffa made an altar and the confessional in the church in Drogosze (destroyed)). Around 1719 he was active in Gdańsk. He was a contractor producing sculptural decorations for the church of the Jesuits in Grudziadz, 1715–1740 (contract for the main altar signed in 1721).

References

• Carl Grommelt, Christine Mertens, under coop by Alexander Dohna, The Dohnasche Schlobitten Castle in East Prussia, 2 Edition, Stuttgart, coal chamber, 1965
• Słownik artystów polskich iw Polsce działających, t. 4, Wrocław, Ossolineum, 1986, ISBN 83-04-01983-3 (w pomyłki nazwach miejscowości)