Location
Germany, Baden-Württemberg, Wiesensteig
Parish and former Collegiate Church of St Cyriacus (Pfarr- und ehem. Kollegiatskirche St. Cyriakus)
Artwork
The Glory of St John of Nepomuk in the Parish Church of St Cyriacus of Wiesensteig
Type
Sculptural group
Dimensions
Height: 100 cm, width: 45 cm, depth: 20 cm
Inscriptions
- Johannes straub Hat dises/bild gemacht anno 1739./den 4 Januarij (on the inner side of the pedestal); Engl. transl.: Johannes straub made this / image in the year 1739 / on the 4th of January)
Critical History
The sculptural group is situated on the predella of the altar of St Joseph, on the right side of the nave. It is signed and dated with graphite pencil on the inner side of the pedestal by Johann Baptist Straub (1739, ins.1).1 According to the parish chronicles, in 1775 the elderly sculptor was commissioned with a new interior for the Collegiate Church of St Cyriacus in his hometown Wiesensteig.2 He designed the side altars, which were mainly executed by his assistant Joseph Streiter by 1780. It is obvious that in 1775 Straub reused the St John of Nepomuk group – an earlier artwork – for the new setting. Probably the group with pedestal was a bozzetto (a study) for a monument or a fountain. Its original location and ownership are unknown. After Straub's sketches, Streiter carved a matching group for the opposite side altar, on the left side of the nave.3 The gilding and polychromy were added by Kandl of Ludwigsburg.4According to Peter Volk, the composition of the Glory of St John of Nepomuk is very close to Straub's groups on the canopies of the pulpits in Laxenburg (1730–1734) and Dießen (1736–1739).5
Construction / Execution
The finely carved sculptural group is mounted on a pedestal made of softwood. The sculptor explicitly elaborated the front and rear of the figures. On the rear, the circumferential profiles of the pedestal have been chipped off to adapt it to the new location on the predella of the altar. The now visible front is gilded, the rear painted yellow.6 There is a gap on the right side of the figural group, right under St John. It marks the former position of a now missing element, probably a second angel. It was replaced by a cloud later on. Visible woodworm perforations (non-active) may explain the losses. Also lost are one wing of the angel (the tongue and groove joint are still visible), most fingers of St John's left hand, except the thumb, and one middle finger of the right hand.
Components
- Sculpture
- Author: Johann Baptist Straub (Wiesensteig ca. 1704 – Munich 1784)
- Completed: 1739
- Technique(s): sawing, wood carving
- Material(s): wood
- Polychromy
- Polychromy
- Completed: ca. 1775 – ca. 1780
- Technique(s): oil gilding
- Material(s): gold leaf
Images
- Wiesensteig, St Cyriacus, The Glory of St John of Nepomuk, 1739 (photo by Julia Strobl, 2018)
- Wiesensteig, St Cyriacus, The Glory of St John of Nepomuk, 1739, rear (photo by Julia Strobl, 2018)
- Inscription by Johann Baptist Straub on the inner side of the pedestal (photo by Julia Strobl, 2018)
- Rear of the sculptural group, detail with the missing wing of the angel (photo by Julia Strobl, 2018)
- Rear of the sculptural group, detail with added cloud (photo by Julia Strobl, 2018)
- Joseph Streiter, The Glory of St Aloysius Gonzaga, ca. 1780, Museum im Storchen, Göppingen (photo by Julia Strobl, 2018)
Catalogue entry prepared by Rupert Karbacher, Andreas Müller, Judith Schekulin and Julia Strobl
Recommended citation: Rupert Karbacher, Andreas Müller, Judith Schekulin and Julia Strobl, The Glory of St John of Nepomuk in the Parish Church of St Cyriacus of Wiesensteig, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 20/05/2022) URL