Location
Slovenia, Ptuj
Artwork
The pulpit of the minorite Church of St Peter and Paul in Ptuj
Type
Pulpit
Inscriptions
- den 9ten Mai 1752 habe ich Joseph Straub, Bildhauer von Marburg, den hohen Altar wie auch die Kanzell, so wohl vor Bildhauser als Tischler und Mahler vollständig hier her versetzt, Der Mahler ist gewesen mit Nahmen Dominicus Cagoni, der Tischler Franz Leb (on the back side of the pulpit, now lost)
Critical History
The pulpit of the minorite Church of St Peter and Paul was mentioned for the first time in the chronicle of the minorite monastery and the church written by Ludvik Pečko. He wrote that during the renovation in 1859 an inscription in pencil was found on the back side of the pulpit (Ins. 1) in which Joseph Straub wrote that he made the pulpit and the high altar. In addition, the carpenter Franz Leeb (he worked together with Straub already in Studenci) and the painter Dominicus Cagoni are mentioned.1 Later the pulpit was mentioned by Mirko Godina and discussed by Sergej Vrišer.2
The pulpit as well as the church and the monastery was demolished in the bombing in 1945. Before the demolition, France Stele took some photographs during the restoration works in the church. They allow us to determine the original appearance of the pulpit, which was placed on the southern wall of the nave, beside the altar of the Holy Cross. The balcony of the pulpit had three reliefs, two sculptures of putti and two decorative vases with flowers. On the roof of the pulpit there were also two putti with open books in their hands, a relief with the depiction of the Noah`s Ark and a sculpture of Faith with a cross at the very top of the roof. The roof of the pulpit was decorated with tassels, and on the back wall, an imitation of the drapery was fixed. Only the Faith (Fig. 1) and the putto from the balcony (Fig. 2) survived the demolition, but they suffered significant damage. Today, they are on display in the chapel of St Anthony of Padua in the church (putto) and in the monastery (Faith).
Construction / Execution
The sculptures are made of wood. The polychromy is imitating white marble.
Components
- Carpentry
- Carpentry
- Author: Franz Leeb
- Completed: 1752
- Sculpture
- Sculpture
- Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
- Completed: 1752
- Patron(s): minorite, religious order
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): limewood
- Polychromy
- Polychromy
- Author: Dominicus Cagoni
- Completed: 1752
- Technique(s): polished white
- Material(s): calcium carbonate, lead white, size
- Polychromy
- Repolychromy
- Author: Viktor Gojkovič
Images
- The pulpit of the minorite Church of St Peter and Paul in Ptuj, old photograph (source of the photo: Ministry of Culture, Cultural Hertiage Directorate, INDOK Centre)
- The sculpture of Faith from the roof of the pulpit (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
Catalogue entry prepared by Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek
Recommended citation: Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek, The pulpit of the minorite Church of St Peter and Paul in Ptuj, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 19/11/2025) URL
