Location
Slovenia, Maribor
Regional Museum Maribor (Pokrajinski muzej Maribor)
Original location:
Slovenia, Maribor
Parish Church of St Joseph in Studenci (Župnijska cerkev sv. Jožefa na Studencih)
Artwork
Sculptural Decoration of the High Altar from the Church of St Joseph in Studenci
Type
High altar
Dimensions
Height: 230 cm, width: 130 cm, depth: 78 cm
Critical History
The high altar from the Church of St Joseph in Studenci was mentioned for the first time in the visitation record in 1756.1 The sculptural decoration of the high altar from the Church of St Joseph in Studenci is a documented work by Joseph Straub.2 The first archival sources were published by Sergej Vrišer in 1957.3 According to two invoices, Straub was paid 200 fl. in 1750, and 600 fl. in 1752.4 Other invoices reveal the names of the carpenter Franz Leeb, who was paid 400 fl. in 1752,5 and the painter Franz Beinlich, who received 930 fl. for the polychromy of the altarpiece in 1756.6
The altar was removed from the church in 1899 because of the general negative perception of Baroque art in that period as we can also read in the chronicle of the parish.7 On the other hand, the Imperial-Royal Central Commission for the research and preservation of artistic and historical monuments in Graz tried to save the altar.8 Most of the statues were transferred to the Diocesan Lavantine Museum. In 1914 the four main sculptures from the altar and the painting of St Joseph in a rich frame were named in a list of the most important and precious items in the collection of the Diocesan Lavantine Museum, but their authorship was unknown at that time.9 Later the collection became part of the Regional Museum Maribor.10
A preserved photograph allows us to determine the original appearance of the altar before it was dismantled.11 We can see that the altar had a massive architecture with concave niches. In the lower part there were columns and four (more than life size) sculptures set between them. These four sculptures represent two pairs of parents: St Anne and St Joachim (Mary’s parents) and St Elisabeth and St Zacharias (St John the Baptist’s parents). In the upper part of the altar there was a sculpture of God the Father with the globe and several angel figures around him. At the top of the altar there were three sculptures: personifications of virtues – Love, Faith and Hope. All the above figures are on display in the Regional Museum Maribor, as well as some sculptures of angels and also the altar`s painting: the painting of St Joseph and the Child in a frame with rose and shell ornamentation, which was removed in 1897 and replaced with a statue of the saint, made by Janez Vurnik Jr (1849 – 1911) from Radovljica.12
The sculptures are considered the most important work of Joseph Straub. They are of high quality, their gestures are clear and the drapery is especially rich. Also the big almond shaped eyes, female faces with round chins, curly hair and big hands are significantly characteristic. The sculptures were used as a reference for several later attributions to Joseph Straub.
Construction / Execution
The posterior sides of the statues of Hope, Faith, Love and cherub are hollowed out with a rough tool, and the surface there was not smoothed.
The limewood is in a good state. There are some cracks in the wood, especially on the wood joints.
Components
- Carpentry
- Carpentry
- Author: Franz Leeb
- Completed: 1750 –
- Technique(s): sawing, wood carving
- Material(s): wood
- Sculpture
- Sculpture
- Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
- Completed: 1750 –
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): limewood
- Polychromy
- Polychromy
- Author: Franz Beinlich
- Completed: 1756 –
- Technique(s): oil, water gilding
- Material(s): calcium carbonate, carbon black, drying oil, gold leaf, lead white, natural resin, protein, red bole, vermillion
- Polychromy
- First repolychromy
- Technique(s): oil, water gilding
- Material(s): barium sulphate, black iron oxide, carbon black, gold leaf, lead red, lead white, oil, red bole
- Polychromy
- Second repolychromy
- Author: Anton Blatnik
- Completed: 1968 –
- Technique(s): oil, water gilding
- Material(s): barium sulphate, calcium carbonate, carbon black, gold leaf, lime, red bole, red iron oxide, sienna, titan white, vermillion, zink white
Comment
Between 1961 and 1972 Anton Blatnik restored the sculptures and also carved some missing parts (angel wings, fingers on feet and hands). Since 2015 Saša Dolinšek from the Restoration Centre of Slovenia has been restoring the sculptures.13
Conservation-restoration
- 1972
Treatment Description
Because of the limited options of materials at that time, the restorer could not find the original coat under the first repolychromy. After the addition of the missing parts of sculptures, they made a second repolychromy.
- 2015 – 2018
Treatment Description
Since 2015, Joseph Straub’s sculptures in the Regional Museum Maribor have been included in the regular annual working programme. As of early 2018, conservation restoration works were completed on the following statues: Faith, Hope and Love, two puttis, two putto heads, a cherub.
Images
- Ferdinand Weizinger, The high altar in the Church of St Joseph in Studenci, around 1899 (Source: Zasebna domoznanska zbirka Primoža Premzla, Maribor)
- The statues from the high altar in Studenci in the Regional Museum Maribor (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The statue of St Anne, Regional Museum Maribor (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The statue of St Joachim, Regional Museum Maribor (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The statue of St Zacharias, Regional Museum Maribor (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The statue of Elisabeth, Regional Museum Maribor (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The statue of God the Father with angels from the high altar in Studenci in the Regional Museum Maribor (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The statue of Love, Regional Museum Maribor (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The statue of an angel with sheaves of corn, Regional Museum Maribor (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The rear of the statue of St Anne, Regional Museum Maribor (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The painting of St Joseph, Regional Museum Maribor (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, Sculptural Decoration of the High Altar from the Church of St Joseph in Studenci, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 21/10/2025) URL
