Brokoff was born in Červený Hrádek in the
Kingdom of Bohemia (today part of
Jirkov in the
Czech Republic), the second son of Elisabeth and
Jan Brokoff. Ferdinand Brokoff's work is often compared with the work of
Matthias Braun. 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, and the sculpture group of
Saints John of Matha, Felix of Valois and Ivan which depicts in its lower section a dungeon in which emaciated Christians are guarded by a dog and a figure in Turkish costume. 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 (
Wrocław), 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
Hradčany Square 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. ==Statues on the Charles Bridge==