Location
Austria, Styria, Fladnitz an der Teichalpe
Parish Church St Nicholas (Pfarrkirche Hl Nikolaus)
Fladnitz an der Teichalm
Artwork
Four sculptures on the high altar of the parish church of Fladnitz an der Teichalm
Type
Sculptural group
Critical History
The four sculptures of the high altar were created by Philipp Jakob Straub in 1736.1 They are attributable to the artist’s early style which already shows tendencies of his later sculptural type. It is characterised by a precise composition of body, clothing and physiognomy, the forward moving of the free leg as well as an expressive gesture. A striking fact is the more demotic and more narrative figural style of the sculptures of St Peter, St Jacob, St Donate and St Paul.2 Far left there is the depiction of St Peter, standing on a volute-shaped corbel. The left hand holds the keys, the right hand an inverted cross. His counterpart on the other side is St Paul with the typical attributes (book and sword) in his hands. Here, the comparison to Margrave Leopold of the altar of St John of Nepomuk of the parish church in Graz is obvious. Both show the same opulent mass of dark hair and beard, the same bulging eyes and shaping of the nose. Left and right of the high altarpiece there are St Jacob the Elder with pilgrim’s staff and hat as well as St Donate, who seems to offer a bowl with a knife on it to the patron saint on the high altarpiece, St Nicholas. The expressive gesture is highly remarkable, as is the rich drapery of his clothing.
Compared to each other, the statue of St Jacob stands out in particular: the face as well as the drapery is coarser than the others and the idiosyncratic bowl-shaped folds in front of his body are very specific and not common for Straub’s oeuvre.
Construction / Execution
The sculptures are made of carved wood stand on rectangular plinths. St Peter and St Paul are situated on volute-shaped corbels, while St Jacob and St Donate are located between three columns (a single and a double one) next to the high altarpiece.
Components
- Sculpture
- Author: Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706 – Graz 1774)
- Completed: 1736
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): wood
- Polychromy
- Completed: 1736
- Material(s): gold leaf, red bole, silver leaf
Comment
The sculptures in the upper zone (Coronation of Virgin Mary, angels and putti) are not attributable to Philipp Jakob Straub because of the divergent physiognomies, especially of Mary and Christ. Nevertheless, the body compositions and the cloudscapes are very reminiscent of Straub’s oeuvre – maybe the authorship stems from a member of his workshop.
Images
- The high altar of the parish church in Fladnitz an der Teichalm (photo by Christina Pichler, 2018)
- St Peter, high altar, parish church, Fladnitz an der Teichalm (photo by Christina Pichler, 2018)
- St Jacob the Elder, high altar, parish church, Fladnitz an der Teichalm (photo by Christina Pichler, 2018)
- St Donate, high altar, parish church, Fladnitz an der Teichalm (photo by Christina Pichler, 2018)
- St Paul, high altar, parish church, Fladnitz an der Teichalm (photo by Christina Pichler, 2018)
Catalogue entry prepared by Eva Klein, Christina Pichler
Recommended citation: Eva Klein, Christina Pichler, Four sculptures on the high altar of the parish church of Fladnitz an der Teichalm, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 03/02/2026) URL
