Location
Slovenia, Cirkovce
Artwork
Sculpture of an Unknown Saint in Cirkovce
Type
Sculpture
Dimensions
Height: 134 cm, width: 72 cm, depth: 27 cm
Critical History
Sergej Vrišer wrote that the sculpture was known only after a photograph by Avguštin Stegenšek until 1970s (or early 1980s), when the statue was found in a parish house in Cirkovce.1 He attributed the sculpture to Joseph Straub and suggested that it was originally made for the parish church in Cirkovce, but was later (when the church was renovated) transferred to a nearby road chapel, where it was eventually damaged. It was probably moved to the parish house from there.2 The sculpture has no attributes, therefore the identification is difficult. Vrišer suggested St John the Baptist or Christ because of the handshape and the position of his left hand which was used to hold a cross or a banner.3
It seems possible that the sculpture is identical with the statue of St John the Baptist mentioned in the baptistery of the church during the visitation of 1751.4
Construction / Execution
The sculpture is made of wood. The backside of the sculpture is hollowed out by some rough round-shaped 42 mm wide tool. The hollowed gap is 10 cm wide and 13 cm deep. The sculpture has no polychromy and is presented as bare wood.
Components
- Sculpture
- Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): limewood
Comment
When Vrišer wrote about the sculpture, it had bad repolychromy and several damages, what can be seen also on the old photograph (Fig. 5).
The sculpture was restored sometime between 1960s and 1970s by Anton Blatnik.5 It is a quality restoration work. During the restoration, some fragments of polychromation in brown and grey blue shades were left to be seen.
Images
- The sculpture of an unknown saint in Cirkovce (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of an unknown saint in Cirkovce, detail (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of an unknown saint in Cirkovce, back side (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of an unknown saint in Cirkovce, old photograph (source of the photo: Ministry of Culture, Cultural Hertiage Directorate, INDOK Centre)
- The sculpture of an unknown saint in Cirkovce, old photograph (source of the photo: Regional Archive Maribor)
Catalogue entry prepared by Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek
Recommended citation: Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek, Sculpture of an Unknown Saint in Cirkovce, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 14/11/2025) URL
