Location
Slovenia, Zgornja Kungota
Parish Church of St Kunigunde (Župnijska cerkev sv. Kunigunde)
Artwork
The side altar in the Parish Church of St Kunigunde in Zgornja Kungota
Type
Side altar
Dimensions
Height: 630 cm, width: 350 cm, depth: 93 cm
Critical History
The side altar in the Parish Church of St Kunigunde in Zgornja Kungota was attributed to Joseph Straub by Sergej Vrišer.1 He named the altar as The Altar of Angels. Originally, the altar was dedicated to St Fabian and St Sebastian,2 the sculpture of the Holy Heart of Jesus was installed in the central niche later.
Above the side openings, there are sculptures of two angels with helmets and small child beside them. In the upper part of the altar, there is an angel with a child (Raphael with Tobias) and two big angels sitting on the volutes. There are also four putti in vivid postures on the altar and two angel heads. The sculptures of angels – especially their faces with big open eyes and round chin, lush curly hair and long arms and legs – are similar to the sculptures of angels from the high altar from Studenci (documented work of Joseph Straub; today in Regional Museum Maribor).
Construction / Execution
The side altar is made of wood. It is placed on a stone altar table. The back side of the altar has well finished and smoothen surface because it was meant to be seen during certain processional activities.
In 1925 sculptor Ivan Sojč renovated the altar.3
Components
- Carpentry
- Carpentry
- Technique(s): sawing
- Material(s): softwood
- Sculpture
- Sculpture
- Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): limewood
- Polychromy
- Polychromy
- Technique(s): oil, water gilding
- Material(s): calcium carbonate, gold leaf, oil, red bole, silver leaf
- Polychromy
- First repolychromy
- Completed: 1938
- Technique(s): oil, oil gilding
- Material(s): metallic pigment, oil, silver leaf
Comment
The construction of the altar is in a good condition. The ground is falling off mostly on the predella becaused it is situated on stone ground. The altar has one repolychromy. The polychromy on the architecture is imitating marble. The first polychromy is imitating blue and brown marble. The sculptures have naturalistic painting. The drapery, attributes and ornamentation work are mostly gilded with some parts of silvering. Originally, gilded surfaces were covered with silver leaves and some bronze painting.
Images
- The side altar in the Parish Church of St Kunigunde in Zgornja Kungota (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of angel (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of angel (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculptures of Raphael with Tobias (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of angel from the upper part of the altar (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of putto (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 side altar in the Parish Church of St Kunigunde in Zgornja Kungota, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 19/11/2025) URL
