Location
Croatia, Požega-Slavonia County, Kuzmica
The Parish church of Saints Cosmas and Damian (Župna crkva svetih Kuzme i Damjana)
Artwork
High Altar in the Parish Church of Sts Cosmas and Damian in Kuzmica
Type
High altar
Dimensions
Height: 356 cm, width: 487 cm, depth: 110 cm
Inscriptions
- Pećarić / Ida / 1925 (on the back of the altar)
Critical History
The church in Orljavica (later Kuzmica) was commissioned by the bishop of Đakovo Josip Antun Čolnić, who probably invited the sculptor from Graz to execute the high altar.1 The record of the canonical visitation in 1769 had still mentioned the old mensa and the painting,2 whereas in the following record in 1780 the present-day altar was described, referring to it as new. 3 At that time, the old painting of Saint Cosmas and Damian still existed behind the altar. 4 Doris Baričević attributed the sculptures to Philipp Jakob Straub,5 but they also show similarities to the work of Franz Anton Straub, particularly the sculpture of St Anne. In any case, the sculptures must have been carved years before the first written note on the altar, since Philipp Jakob Straub died in 1774 and Franz Anton Straub between 1774 and 1776. The altar's composition, consisting of a central tabernacle with adjoining sculptures above the side openings, belongs to a variant of tabernacle type altar,6 which is rare among Philipp Jakob's ouvre, and would be an unique example if created by Franz Anton Straub.
The altar was probably restored in 1925 by Ida Pečarić (Ins. 1), but we do not know for certain about its stratigraphy since the restoration research hasn't been carried out yet. The chapel in Kuzmica became a parish church in 1968.
Construction / Execution
Unlike other altars by Philipp Jakob Straub, the high altar in Kuzmica consists of the central tabernacle and the sculptures of Saint Anna and Saint Joachim positioned on side arches. Above the tabernacle is a niche to treasure the older sculpture of Our Lady.7 There is a possibility that the carpentry and the polychromy were created after the sculptor's death.
Components
- Sculpture
- Our Lady with Child
- Completed: ca. 1700 – ca. 1720
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): wood
- Carpentry
- Completed: 1769 – ca. 1774
- Patron(s): Josip Antun Ćolnić, bishop
- Technique(s): sawing
- Material(s): wood
- Sculpture
- Joachim and Anne
- Author: Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706 – Graz 1774)
- Completed: 1769 – ca. 1774
- Patron(s): Josip Antun Ćolnić, bishop
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): wood
- Polychromy
- Completed: 1769 – 1780
- Patron(s): Josip Antun Ćolnić, bishop
- Polychromy
- First repolychromy
- Author: Ida Pećarić
- Completed: 1925
- Polychromy
- Sevond repolychromy
- Author: Franjo Mrnjec
- Completed: 2007
- Technique(s): oil gilding, water gilding
- Material(s): gold leaf, silver leaf
Comment
The altar was repolychromed in 2007 by Franjo Mrnjec.
Images
- The high altar in Kuzmica (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Goran Tomljenović, 2019)
- The sculpture of St Anne (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Jovan Kliska, 2008)
- The sculpture of St Joachim (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Jovan Kliska, 2008)
- The sculpture of St Anne, detail (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Jovan Kliska, 2008)
Catalogue entry prepared by Ksenija Škarić and Martina Ožanić
Recommended citation: Ksenija Škarić and Martina Ožanić, High Altar in the Parish Church of Sts Cosmas and Damian in Kuzmica, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 24/01/2026) URL
