Location
Slovenia, Videm pri Ptuju
Župnijska cerkev sv. Vida
Original location:
Slovenia, Videm pri Ptuju
The chapel of St Roch
Artwork
The side altar of St Roch in the Parish Church of St Vitus in Videm pri Ptuju
Type
Side altar
Dimensions
Height: 610 cm, width: 350 cm, depth: 139 cm
Inscriptions
- 1756 (the inscription was on the altar, probably on the predella, but it is not visible anymore)
Critical History
The altar of St Roch was mentioned for the first time in the visitation record from 1751, but not as the side altar in the Parish Church of St Vitus in Videm pri Ptuju, where it stands today. Originally, the altar was the high altar in the chapel of St Roch, which stood in the nearby cemetery.1 The chapel was built next to a parish church in 1682, and was closed down in 1786 by Joseph II.2 Matej Slekovec, who wrote a chronicle of the parish, reported that the sculpture of St Roch was transferred from the chapel to the church, where it stands today.3 Note, however, that it was evidently not only the sculpture of St Roch, that was transferred, but the whole altar.
Later, the altar was mentioned by France Stele, who transcribed the inscription on the altar (Ins. 1 – probably referring to the year when the polychromy was completed). Mirko Godina was the first to suggest the authorship of Joseph Straub`s workshop and it was finally Sergej Vrišer in 1957 who firmly attributed the altar to Joseph Straub.4 Only in 1963, according to a parish chronicle, Vrišer listed the altar as a documented work of Joseph Straub from around 1750.5 It is unclear where exactly Vrišer found this information (and where the chronicle, which he used as a reference is kept). In the parish archive in Videm pri Ptuju there is only a chronicle from 1887, written by Matej Slekovec, but there is no information about the authorship of the altar of St Roch.
The architecture of the altar is concave with a column on each side. In the centre, there is a niche with a sculpture of St Roch; on its sides, there are sculptures of St Joseph and St Anthony of Padua; on the left arch, there is a sculpture of St Nicholas, and on the right one, St Urban. In the upper part of the altar, there are four putti and four angel heads with a burning heart surrounded by rays and clouds in the middle. At the top of the altar, a sculpture of Virgin Mary with a Child is placed, but the sculpture is older than the altar.6
Construction / Execution
The side altar is made of wood. It is placed on a stone altar table. The back side of the altar has a well finished and smoothened surface because it was meant to be seen during certain procession activities.
Components
- Carpentry
- Carpentry
- Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
- Technique(s): sawing
- Material(s): softwood
- Sculpture
- Sculpture
- Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
- Completed: ca. 1756
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): limewood
- Polychromy
- Polychromy
- Completed: ca. 1756
- Technique(s): oil, water gilding
- Material(s): calcium carbonate, gold leaf, oil, red bole, silver leaf, size
- Polychromy
- First repolychromy
- Technique(s): oil, oil gilding
- Material(s): metal leaf, oil
Comment
The construction of the altar is in a good condition. The limewood is attacked by wood-boring insects. The ground is lifting and falling off. The altar has two repolychromies. Polychromy on the architecture is imitating marble. The first polychromy is imitating dark grey and grey green marble. The sculptures have naturalistic painting. Drapery, attributes and ornamentation work are gilded. Some parts of originally gilded surfaces are now covered with metal leaves and some with bronze paint.
Images
- The side altar of St Roch in the Parish Church of St Vitus in Videm pri Ptuju (photo by Valentina Pavlič, 2018)
- The sculpture of St Roch (photo by Valentina Pavlič, 2018)
- The sculpture of St Nicholas, detail (photo by Valentina Pavlič, 2018)
- The sculpture of St Anthony of Padua, detail (photo by Valentina Pavlič, 2018)
- The sculpture of St Anthony of Padua, detail (photo by Valentina Pavlič, 2018)
- The sculpture of Virgin Mary (photo by Valentina Pavlič, 2018)
Catalogue entry prepared by Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek
Recommended citation: Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek, The side altar of St Roch in the Parish Church of St Vitus in Videm pri Ptuju, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 05/08/2020) URL
