Artworks Catalogue

The high altar in Čakovec (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Goran Tomljenović, 2017)
The high altar, detail (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Nikolina Oštarijaš, 2015)
The high altar, detail (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Nikolina Oštarijaš, 2015)
The sculpture of the Archangel Gabriel (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Jovan Kliska, 2012)
The sculpture of an angel (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Ljubo Gamulin, 2013)
The high altar in Čakovec (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Mario Braun, 2006)

Location

Croatia, Međimurje County, Čakovec

Parish Church of St Nicholas the Bishop (Župna crkva sv. Nikole Biskupa)

Artwork

High Altar of the Parish (and Franciscan) Church in Čakovec

Type

High altar

Dimensions

Height: 990 cm, width: 1100 cm, depth: 137 cm

Inscriptions

  1. Sv. AMBROZIJE (in the repolychromy layer on the base of the sculpture of St Ambrose)
  2. Sv. GREGORIJE (in the repolychromy layer on the base of the sculpture of St Gregory)
  3. Sv. JEROLIM (in the repolychromy layer on the base of the sculpture of St Jerome)
  4. Sv. AUGUSTIN (in the repolychromy layer on the base of the sculpture of St Augustine)
  5. Josef Obletter / Bildhauer-Altarbauer / Ehrenmitglied der königlichen Kust-Academie, / St. Ulrich. Gröden. Tirol (the plate on the right column base of the main altar)
  6. IN HONOREM / S. IOANNIS / NEPOMUC. / RENOVATA 1911. (in the cartouche on the altar of St John of Nepomuk)
  7. Renov: M. Sodič aus Stridon i87i 6/9 (on the backside of one the large shell-like ornaments)
  8. i87i / M. Sodič renov. (under the painting of St Nicholas)

Critical History

According to a document from the monastery archive, the design for the high altar was commisioned on 15 March 1742 by Ana Maria Pignatelli, the widow of the local nobleman, Count Althann.1 The sculptures were attributed to Joseph Straub by the art historian Sergej Vrišer in 1967.2 The painting St Nicholas Pledges Čakovec to the Mother of God3 (St Nicholas with the Mother of God and Angels4) depicts Čakovec from the mid-18th century true to life. The altar was partially renovated in 1871 by M. Sodič from Štrigova (Ins. 7 and 8)5 and completely repolychromed in 1911 (Ins. 5 and 6) by Josef Obletter Szent Ulrich from Gröden (Val Gardena) in Tyrol6 who also created the new tabernacle and antependium.7

Construction / Execution

According to the conservation documentation, the carpentry was executed in firwood, while the sculptures and ornaments were carved in limewood.8

Components

Concept/design
Completed: 1742 – ca. 1750
Patron(s): Ana Maria Pignatelli, noble
Carpentry
Completed: ca. 1743 – ca. 1750
Patron(s): Ana Maria Pignatelli, noble
Technique(s): sawing
Material(s): softwood
Sculpture
Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
Completed: ca. 1743 – ca. 1750
Patron(s): Ana Maria Pignatelli, noble
Technique(s): wood carving
Material(s): limewood
Painting
St Nicholas Pledges Čakovec to the Mother of God
Completed: ca. 1750
Patron(s): Ana Maria Pignatelli, noble
Technique(s): oil on canvas
Painting
The Holy Family
Completed: ca. 1750
Patron(s): Ana Maria Pignatelli, noble
Technique(s): oil on canvas
Polychromy
Completed: ca. 1743 – ca. 1750
Patron(s): Ana Maria Pignatelli, noble
Technique(s): incision, oil gilding, tempera, water gilding
Material(s): gold leaf, oil-resin varnish, red bole, silver leaf, white bole, yellow bole
Polychromy
First repolychromy
Author: Martin Sodič
Completed: ca. 1871
Technique(s): oil
Material(s): oil size, silver leaf
Polychromy
Second repolychromy
Author: Josef Obletter
Completed: 1911
Technique(s): oil, oil gilding, water gilding
Material(s): aluminium leaf, gold leaf, industrial nails, metallic pigment, oil size

Comment

According to the Velimir Ivezić, the polychromy was executed in tempera and covered by shellac varnish, while the repolychromies were carried out in oil. The gilding of the frame dating from the 18th century was in parts scratched by means of metal hooks to form tendril shapes.9

Conservation-restoration

2001–2011

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

Approach to the presentation of losses

Reintegration of lacunae – mimetic: total

Reconstruction of losses: total

Materials: acetone, Bologna chalk, Carbopol, demineralized water, Ethomeen C/25, ethyl acetate, gouache, limewood, mastic resin, paint stripper, paint thinner, Paraloid B-72, Plextol 500, PVA adhesive, rabbit-skin glue, red bole, Shellsol T, turpentine oil, white bole, wood powder, wooden pins, yellow bole

Treatment Description

The sculptures of St Jerome and St Gregory were exhibited in 1999 in the exhibition of Franciscan art Mir i dobro.10 After 2001 conservation-restoration work on the four sculptures of the church fathers started, following the restoration of all the other sculptures on the high altar (led by Vesna Šimičić and Snježana Hodak). On the sculptures the repolychromies were preserved, but the darkened varnish and the partial repairs of gilding executed with gold imitation (colours containing copper) were removed.11 The restored sculptures were returned to the owner in 2011 and placed on the restored altar in 2015. The paintings were restored in the Croatian Conservation Institute in 2008 (conservation-restoration led by Vjeran Potočić).

2003–2015

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: total

Materials: acetone, beeswax, dammar varnish, gold leaf, gold powder, gouache, gum arabic, oil colour, paint thinner, red bole, triamonium citrate

Treatment Description

The conservation-restoration of the retable was carried out in the private restoration workshop headed by Velimir Ivezić. The treatment included the dismantlement of the structure and the removal of the repolychromies. When two layers of gilding could not be separated without damaging the earlier one, the regilding was preserved.12

Images

  1. The high altar in Čakovec (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Goran Tomljenović, 2017)
  2. The high altar, detail (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Nikolina Oštarijaš, 2015)
  3. The high altar, detail (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Nikolina Oštarijaš, 2015)
  4. The sculpture of the Archangel Gabriel (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Jovan Kliska, 2012)
  5. The sculpture of an angel (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Ljubo Gamulin, 2013)
  6. The high altar in Čakovec (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Mario Braun, 2006)

Catalogue entry prepared by Ksenija Škarić and Martina Ožanić

Recommended citation: Ksenija Škarić and Martina Ožanić, High Altar of the Parish (and Franciscan) Church in Čakovec, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 22/05/2025) URL

Sources and Bibliography

  1. Anđela Horvat, Spomenici arhitekture i likovnih umjetnosti u Međimurju, Čakovec, Matica hrvatska, 2010 [1956]
  2. Sergej Vrišer, Dela štajerskih baročnih kiparjev v Medmurju, in: Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje. Nova vrsta 3. (XXXVIII.), Jože Koropec (ed.), Maribor, Založba Obzorja, Maribor, Izdalo Združenje visokošolskih zavodov v Mariboru v sodelovanju s podružnico Zgodovinskega društva v Mariboru, 1967, 144–156, URL
  3. Paškal Cvekan, Čakovec i franjevci. Povijesno-kulturni prikaz tri stoljetne povezanosti Čakovca s franjevcima – na pragu 320 godišnjice njihova dolaska u grad Zrinskih, Čakovec, Franjevački samostan Čakovec, 1978
  4. Mirjana Repanić-Braun, Unutrašnje uređenje franjevačke crkve sv. Nikole u Čakovcu, in: Likovna i kulturna baština čakovečkih franjevaca. Izložba u povodu 350 godina franjevaca u Čakovcu, Muzej Međimurja Čakovec 20.2 – 20.3.2009 (exhibition catalogue), Mirjana Repanić-Braun (ed.), Čakovec, Franjevački samostan sv. Nikole Čakovec, 2009, 6–10
  5. Iva Golenko, Slikarska djela franjevačkog samostana sv. Nikole biskupa, in: Franjevci u Čakovcu. Fotomonografija u povodu 350. obljetnice dolaska franjevaca u Čakovec 1659. – 2009., Jasminka Bakoš-Kocijan (ed.), Čakovec, 2009, 199–203
  6. Iva Golenko, Barokno slikarstvo s osvrtom na zbirku franjevačkog samostana sv. Nikole u Čakovcu, in: 350 godina franjevaca u Čakovcu (proceedings from the symposium held on 20th and 21st February 2009), Stjepan, Hranjec, Jasminka Bakoš-Kocijan (ed.), Čakovec, Franjevački samostan Čakovec, 2010, 107–114
  7. Doris Baričević, Unutrašnje uređenje franjevačke crkve sv. Nikole u Čakovcu. Stručna analiza drvenog baroknog inventara crkve i slika, in: 350 godina franjevaca u Čakovcu (proceedings from the symposium held on 20th and 21st February 2009), Stjepan, Hranjec, Jasminka Bakoš-Kocijan (ed.), Čakovec, Franjevački samostan Čakovec, 2010, 115–120
  8. Croatian Conservation Institute, Vesna Šimičić et al., Čakovec, franjevačka crkva sv. Nikole: smjernice s prijedlogom za konzervatorsko-restauratorske radove na glavnom oltaru s osvrtom na ostali inventar crkve, Zagreb, 2006
  9. Snježana Hodak, Radovi u 2010. godini: Čakovec (on CD), in: Portal, godišnjak Hrvatskog restauratorskog zavoda, 2, Višnja Bralić, Ana Azinović Bebek (ed.), Zagreb, Croatian Conservation Institute, 2011, 24–25, URL
  10. Snježana Hodak, Radovi u 2011. godini: Čakovec (on CD), in: Portal, godišnjak Hrvatskog restauratorskog zavoda, 3, Višnja Bralić, Ana Azinović Bebek (ed.), Zagreb, Croatian Conservation Institute, 2012, 19, URL
  11. Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, Conservation Department in Varaždin, Velimir Ivezić, Elaborat konzervatorsko-restauratorskih istraživanja i radova na arhitekturi glavnog oltara sv. Nikole Biskupa iz istoimene franjevačke crkve u Čakovcu, Varaždin, 2015

Notes

1 Paškal Cvekan, 1978, 30–31: "Fiat delineatio Arae Majoris et compatentur expensae."

2 Sergej Vrišer, 1967, 144

3 Mirjana Repanić-Braun, 2009, 7

4 Iva Golenko, 2009, 201; Iva Golenko, 2010, 111

5 Velimir Ivezić, 2015

6 Anđela Horvat, 2010, 98

7 Doris Baričević, 2010, 116

8 Velimir Ivezić, 2015

9 Velimir Ivezić, 2015

10 Vesna Šimičić et al., 2006

11 Snježana Hodak, 2011 and 2012

12 Velimir Ivezić, 2015

The TrArS project is dedicated to the study and presentation of artworks created by members of the Straub family in 18th century Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. This website is being updated regularly and reflects the current state of the ongoing research.

Project Management Office

Ksenija Škarić, project manager
Croatian Conservation Institute

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