Location
Slovenia, Jarenina
Parish Church of Virgin Mary of the Assumption (Župnijska cerkev sv. Marije Vnebovzete)
Artwork
Left Side Altar of St Lawrence in the Parish Church of Virgin Mary of the Assumption in Jarenina
Type
Side altar
Dimensions
Height: 430 cm, width: 270 cm, depth: 120 cm
Critical History
Sergej Vrišer published a transcription from the history of Jareninski dvor and the Parish Church of Virgin Mary in Jarenina, saying that in 1755 two side altars of St Lawrence and St Nicholas were made by a sculptor from Maribor.1 Vrišer therefore suggested Joseph Straub as the author of the altars, also because of the stylistic characteristics of the sculptures.2
In the central niche, there is a sculpture of St Lawrence holding a gridiron in his hands (which is probably not original). On the sides there are two sculptures of unknown saints, both holding a sword. The sculptures of the saints have several characteristics of Joseph Straub personal style: the faces and curly hair, draperies and their postures. The wreaths of roses and the rocaille are significant for Joseph Straub`s altars. In the upper part of the altar, there are two putti siting on the volutes, and seven angel heads in the central part – but none of them seem to have the characteristics of Joseph Straub.
Construction / Execution
The side altar is placed by the wall in the corner between the apse and the side chapel. The altar is made of wood and is placed on the stone altar table.
Components
- Carpentry
- Carpentry
- Technique(s): sawing, wood carving
- Material(s): softwood
- Sculpture
- Sculpture
- Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
- Completed: 1755
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): limewood
- Polychromy
- Polychromy
- Technique(s): oil, water gilding
- Material(s): gold leaf, red bole, yellow bole
- Polychromy
- First repolychromy
- Technique(s): oil, water gilding
- Material(s): calcium carbonate, gold leaf, oil, size
- Polychromy
- Second repolychromy
- Technique(s): oil, oil gilding
- Material(s): gold leaf, metal leaf, silver leaf
Comment
The side altar has three layers of painting. All three polychromies of the architecture imitate marble, while ornaments, angel wings and drapery imitate gold. The original polychromy of the altar architecture imitates marble in blue, orange and brown shades. Ornamentation work, sculpture´s drapery and angel wings imitate gold.
Wooden carrier of sculptures and ornamentation is badly damaged by wood-boring insects and fungi. Cracks and insect boreholes are visible. The ground is cracking, lifting and peeling off. There are some losses of ornamentation work. We can assume that during the past renovation some changes in composition on the attic were done. There is a lot of oil gilding with metal leaves on the drapery and the clouds.
Images
- The left side altar of St Lawrence in Jarenina (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The left side altar of St Lawrence in Jarenina (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The upper part of the left side altar of St Lawrence in Jarenina (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of St Lawrence (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, Left Side Altar of St Lawrence in the Parish Church of Virgin Mary of the Assumption in Jarenina, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 19/11/2025) URL
