Jan Brokoff, also known as Johann Brokoff, (23 June 1652 – 28 December 1718) was a baroque-era sculptor and carver.
Brokoff was of Carpathian German origin, born in Spišská Sobota, today in Slovakia, then in Royal Hungary, and later working and living in Bohemia. He was the father of the sculptors Michael Brokoff and Ferdinand Brokoff.
In 1675 Brokoff moved from Hungary and worked at various places mainly in western Bohemia. Three years later, in 1692 he settled in Prague and gained burgher rights in Prague's Staré mesto (Old Town). He and his wife Elisabeth (Czech: Eliška) born Spingler had four children - sons, Michal Jan Josef, Ferdinand Maxmilian and Antonin Sebastian, and a daughter, Anna Eleonora. Two of the sons continued in his work (and the younger, Ferdinand Maxmilian, becoming the more prominent), the third son, Antonín Sebastian, later became the court poet in Vienna. Jan Brokoff died in Prague.
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Ferdinand Maxmilian Brokoff (12 September 1688 - 8 March 1731) was a sculptor and carver of the Baroque era.
He was born in Cervený Hrádek near Chomutov, Bohemia, the second son of Elisabeth and Jan Brokoff. Ferdinand Brokoff's work is often compared with the work of Matthias Braun.[citation needed] Initially he mostly helped his father, but from 1708 he worked independently and two years later, at the age of 22, he became known for his work on several statues on Charles Bridge in Prague, including the statuary of St. Adalbert, the statue of St. Gaetano, the sculpture group of Francis Borgia, the statues of St. Ignatius and Francis Xaverius, Statues of Saints John of Matha, Felix of Valois and Ivan including the famous statue of Turk, and so on.
Around 1714 Ferdinand Brokoff began working with the Austrian architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and moved to Vienna (while still taking commissions from Prague) where he worked on the church of St. Charles Borromei. He was also active in Silesia (Wroclaw), but had to return to Prague soon due to progressing tuberculosis. Nevertheless, he continued to sculpt in Prague and made some significant pieces during the 1720s, such as the monumental statuary and pillar at Hradcany Square (Czech: Hradcanské námestí) in 1726. In 1722 he was also commissioned to create 13 pieces of the Calvary to put in the niches of the New Castle Stairway, a project that was never realized.
Towards the end of his life, the illness gradually prevented him from working alone, thus he only created the designs and models, and had them realized by his younger assistants. He died in Prague.
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6769 Brokoff Asteroid is a main-belt asteroid.
Discovered by: A. Mrkos
Date of discovery: 15. 2. 1985
Place of discovery: Klet Observatory