Location
Slovenia, Štanjel
Parish Church of St Daniel (Župnijska cerkev sv. Danijela)
Parish St Daniel
Artwork
Two sculptures on the high altar of the Parish church in Štanjel
Type
Sculpture
Dimensions
Height: 127 cm, width: 69 cm
Inscriptions
- IOSE. STRAVP INVENTOR SCVLP. ANNO 1741 (on the base of the sculpture of St John of Nepomuk)
Critical History
The statue of St John of Nepomuk is a documented work of Joseph Straub from 1741, regarding the inscription on the base of the sculpture (Ins. 1). The sculptures were published for the first time by Sergej Vrišer.1 The statue of St John of Nepomuk is placed on the very right side of the main altar and is significantly similar to the statue of St Joseph on the very left side. Two statues of the Church Fathers – St Augustine and St Gregory, which are placed beside the marble tabernacle are not by the same sculptor. Apparently, all four statues were brought here from some other place.
Construction / Execution
Posterior side of sculptures was hollowed out using a rough tool. Traces of chisel were partially smoothened. Some wood joints can be seen on each sculpture.
Components
- Sculpture
- St John of Nepomuk and St Joseph
- Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
- Completed: 1741 –
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): limewood
- Polychromy
- St John of Nepomuk and St Joseph
- Technique(s): oil, water gilding
- Material(s): Bologna chalk, calcium carbonate, drying oil, gold leaf, lead white, litophone, red bole, shellack, sienna, vermillion
- Polychromy
- First repolychromy
- Technique(s): polished white
- Material(s): lime, white bole
- Polychromy
- Second and third repolychromy
- Technique(s): oil
- Material(s): oil, titan white
Comment
The first polychromy contains coloured parts in combination with polished gold.
First repolychromy was probably made when statues were moved to marble altar in St Daniel’s church in Štanjel and is made in polished white technique. All the other repolychromies were made by thick application of oil paint.
Images
- The high altar of the Parish church in Štanjel (Institute for the Protection of cultural heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2017)
- The statue of St Joseph (Institute for the Protection of cultural heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2017)
- The statue of St John of Nepomuk, detail (Institute for the Protection of cultural heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2017)
- The statue of St John of Nepomuk (Institute for the Protection of cultural heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2017)
Catalogue entry prepared by Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek
Recommended citation: Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek, Two sculptures on the high altar of the Parish church in Štanjel, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 22/10/2025) URL
