Artworks Catalogue

Location

Croatia, Sisak-Moslavina County, Velika Ludina

Parish Church of St Michael (Župna crkva svetog Mihaela arkanđela)

Artwork

The high altar of the Parish Church in Velika Ludina

Type

High altar

Dimensions

Height: 914 cm, width: 817 cm

Inscriptions

1. SURR(E)XIT HÆC CUM CATTEDRA T... / ERRECTIONE ET TOTIUS ECCLESIAE NOVA / INCRVSTATIONE SUPCURA ADMODUM REVERE(N..) / DOMINI PAROCHI PETRI BURSSICH ANNO / DOMINI 1762 (on the retable behind the tabernacle)
2. RENOVATA SUB PAROCHO / JOANNE MIKOVIĆ / 1853 (on the retable behind the tabernacle)
3. Sv. MARIO! / moli za nas. (inscription from 1906 on the dome of the top of the attic was removed between 2004 and 2007)
4. MRIA (monogram installed during the restoration from 2004 to 2007 to replace Ins. 3)
5. Joch: Beijer. / pinx: Gratz 1853 (in the lower left corner of the painting of St Michael the Archangel)
6. Uz pripomoć vjernika iznutra posve obnovljena / za župnika Ivana Habijana g. 1906. / Po slikaru: P- Rutar. iz. Osilnice. Krein. (on the west wall, behind the organ)

Critical History

The altar was built in 1761 1 and polychromed in 1762 (Ins. 1).2 At the time the patron of the church was the family Erdödy, while the inscription on the altar mentions it was erected when Petar Buršić was the parish priest. Doris Baričević attributes the altar and the sculptures to Franz Anton Straub.3 The original painting of St Michael was replaced in 1853 with a painting by Johann Beyer, a painter from Graz (Ins. 5). The posterior of the wings framing St Zechariah bears inscriptions in pencil, indicating that they had been removed or dismantled during some previous renovation.4 Statue of St Lucy from the second tier is lost.

Construction / Execution

The surface treatment of the backside varies depending on the sculpture. The posterior side of the majority of sculptures was hollowed out using a rough tool and wood joints were not levelled. However, the statue of St Joachim, with a cavity behind (making the posterior of the statue visible when circling around the altar) is hollow in the back with a levelled surface. The statue of St Zechariah, which also has an opening in the back, doesn’t have a concave posterior. It is carved on all sides but lacks polychromy on the back side. At least three different impressions made by a vise are visible on the bottom side of the pedestal. The wood was connected with large wooden and iron pegs. The back side of the predella is not sealed with planks.

Components

Carpentry

Author: Franz Anton Straub (Wiesensteig 1726 – Zagreb ca. 1774)

Completed: 1761

Patron(s): Petar Bursić, priest

Technique(s): sawing, wood carving

Material(s): softwood

Sculpture

Author: Franz Anton Straub (Wiesensteig 1726 – Zagreb ca. 1774)

Completed: 1761

Patron(s): Petar Bursić, priest

Technique(s): wood carving

Material(s): limewood

Painting

St. Michael the Archangel

Author: Johann Beyer (Sanerwitz 1804 – Graz 1876)

Completed: 1853 –

Patron(s): Ivan Miković, priest

Technique(s): oil on canvas

Polychromy

Polychromy

Completed: 1762

Patron(s): Petar Bursić, priest

Technique(s): oil, oil gilding, tempera, water gilding

Material(s): gold leaf, oil colour, red bole, silver leaf, yellow bole

Polychromy

First repolychromy

Completed: 1853

Patron(s): Ivan Miković, priest

Technique(s): water gilding

Material(s): gold leaf, red bole, silver leaf, yellow bole

Polychromy

Second repolychromy

Author: Petar Rutar (Cerkno pri Idriji 1856 – Osilnica 1948)

Completed: 1906

Patron(s): Ivan Habijan, priest

Technique(s): oil gilding, stencil ornamentation, water gilding

Material(s): aluminium leaf, brass leaf, gold leaf, litophone, silver leaf

Comment

Two layers of repolychromy, one from 1853 and the other from 1906 (Ins. 5: With the help of parishioners, the interior was completely renovated /for pastor Ivan Habijan in 1906 / By painter: P – Rutar from Osilnica, Krein), were mostly removed during restoration (the removal process is still ongoing). Repolychromy from 1853 has been kept on some parts of the gilding and the blue glaze of the silvered surface.5 Marblings are executed in tempera and glazes on silver-leaf in oil.

Conservation-restoration

2003 – present

Strategy: removing dirt, removing one or several historic repolychromies, removing partial repairs, removing patina, removing varnish

Approach to the presentation of losses

Reintegration of lacunae – mimetic: total

Reconstruction of losses: partial

Materials: acetone, balsa wood, benzyl alcohol, Beva 371, Bologna chalk, Canada balsam, Carbopol, demineralized water, Ethomeen C/12, Ethomeen C/25, ethyl alcohol, ethyl lactate, gold leaf, gold powder, gum arabic, limewood, oil colour, Pappina Fiorentina, Paraloid B-72, Pemulen TR-2, Plextol D 498, Polyamid-Textil-Schweisspulver No. 5060, polyester canvas, PVA adhesive, rabbit-skin glue, red bole, Shellsol T, silver leaf, silver powder, sodium hydroxide, softwood, springs, triamonium citrate, white bole, white spirit, wood powder, wooden pins, xanthan gum, yellow bole

Treatment Description

Research began in 2003,6 after which restoration started and is still ongoing.7 During restoration, both layers of repolychromy have been removed, except in places where, due to poor preservation of the original polychromy or because of the difficulty in separating layers, the first re-polychromy was preserved. Conservation of the altar was supervised by Vesna Šimičić and Snježana Hodak, while Edo Anušić and Ana Dumbović worked on individual statues.8 The painting was restored by Zlatko Bielen from 2014 to 2015.9

Images

1. The high altar in the Parish Church in Velika Ludina (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archives, Photo by Goran Tomljenović, 2019)
2. The sculpture of St Joachim (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Nikolina Oštarijaš, 2015)
3. The sculpture of St Zechariah (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Nikolina Oštarijaš, 2015)
4. The sculpture of St Zechariah, detail (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Nikolina Oštarijaš, 2015)