Artworks Catalogue

Location

Austria, Styria, Arzberg

Parish Church St Jacob (Pfarrkirche Hl Jakobus)

Arzberg

Artwork

The corbel figures of St Nicholas and St Valentine in the nave of the parish church of Arzberg

Type

Sculptural group

Critical History

The sculptures of St Nicholas and St Valentine are comparable to works of Straub. The former is standing with his crozier in the right and a book with three golden spheres in the left hand, his eyes turned upwards. The drapery of his coat is especially remarkable; it’s billowing above his left leg up to his hip. The pathetic facial expression is dominated by big bulging eyes, full lips and a slightly opened mouth. The physiognomy is comparable to that of Margrave Leopold on the altar of St John of Nepomuk in the parish church of Graz; also the long, fluent hair of the split beard is common to both sculptures. St Valentine shows a very similar body and facial composition, only his look is turned down- and sidewards. Moreover the drapery isn’t that moved compared to his counterpart. His attributes are a crozier in the left hand and an epileptic at his feet.

The comparison to the sculptures of the altar of St John of Nepomuk in the parish church of Graz clearly demonstrates their relationship to each other. Therefore, their period of origin can be assumed around the year 1750.

Construction / Execution

The sculptures are made of carved wood and worked in three dimensions. They are standing on rectangular, green-coloured plinths which are situated on plain corbels that taper towards the lower end.

Components

Sculpture

Author: Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706 – Graz 1774)

Completed: ca. 1750

Technique(s): wood carving

Material(s): wood

Polychromy

Completed: ca. 1750

Comment

According to Dehio Steiermark there should be eight baroque sculptures on corbels within the nave of the parish church of Arzberg, which are dated to the first half of the 18th century.1 Two of them are situated left and right of the high altarpiece (St Joseph and St John of Nepomuk), two (St Anne and St Joachim) are located on the north wall of the nave. Nearest to the choir are the sculptures of St Nicholas and St Valentine (opposite of each other). Farthermost of the choir are the sculptures of St Florian and St Donate, but they are apparently younger than the others (20^th century). Therefore, six of eight baroque statues are still present in the nave.

Images

1. The sculpture of St Nicholas, parish church, Arzberg (photo by Christina Pichler, 2018)
2. St Nicholas, detail, parish church, Arzberg (photo by Christina Pichler, 2018)
3. The sculpture of St Valentine, parish church, Arzberg (photo by Christina Pichler, 2018)
4. St Valentine, detail, parish church, Arzberg (photo by Christina Pichler, 2018)