Parish Church St Aegydius (Pfarrkirche Hl Ägydius)
Artwork
The pulpit of the Parish church at castle Hollenegg
Type
Pulpit
Critical History
The castle and the parish church of Hollenegg belong to the property of prince of Liechtenstein and date back to the 12th century, whereby the church has been rebuilt in 1750 by Marburg builder Johann Fuchs.1 The oval, bright main room with four niches shows a high quality rococo interior. The pulpit is located on the pilaster on the eastern wall between two of the niches. On the sounding board stands the sculpture of the Good Shepherd, as white-coloured as the sculptures on the high altar. The body appears twisted and highly dynamic which makes it comparable not only to the angels on the high altar, but especially to the four angels of Ehrenhausen, which hold the Instruments of the Passion and which are highly impetuous. They typify the artist’s sculptural climax.2 The sculpture’s white colour may imitate marble.
Construction / Execution
The pulpit is situated on the left side of the nave and it’s accessible from behind via the vestry.
Components
Carpentry
Completed: 1755 – 1760
Technique(s): sawing, wood carving
Material(s): wood
Sculpture
Author: Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706 – Graz 1774)
Completed: 1755 – 1760
Technique(s): wood carving
Material(s): wood
Polychromy
Sculpture
Completed: 1755 – 1760
Images
The pulpit of the parish church at castle Hollenegg (photo by Diocesan Museum Graz, Christina Pichler, 2015)
The Good Shepherd, pulpit, Hollenegg (photo by Diocesan Museum Graz, Christina Pichler, 2015)
Catalogue entry prepared by Christina Pichler and Dagmar Probst
Recommended citation: Christina Pichler and Dagmar Probst, The pulpit of the Parish church at castle Hollenegg, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 25/01/2026) URL
Sources and Bibliography
Dehio-Handbuch. Die Kunstdenkmäler Österreichs. Steiermark, 3. Auflage, Eberhard Hempel, Eduard Andorfer (ed.), Wien, 1956
Horst Schweigert, Philipp Jakob Straub (1706–1774). Ein Grazer Barockbildhauer, in: Studien zur Kunstgeschichte Steiermarks, Horst Schweigert (ed.), Kumberg, Sublilium Schaffer Verlag, 1992, 309–329
