Location
Croatia, Varaždin County, Varaždin
Ursuline Church of the Birth of Christ (Uršulinska crkva Rođenja Isusovog)
Original location:
Varaždin
Artwork
Left Side Altar of St John of Nepomuk in the Ursuline Church in Varaždin
Type
Side altar
Dimensions
Height: 448 cm, width: 358 cm, depth: 63 cm
Critical History
The now non-existent wooden construction of the side altar of St Johann of Nepomuk was executed by the Varaždin carpenter Mathias Saurer, who signed the sub-contract for the carpentry work with the painter Johann Valentin Karcher on 14th March 1745.1 The sculptures were planned to be commissioned from the sculptor from Zagreb Antonio Reiner, but this order was cancelled since the head of the monastery Mother Caecilia insisted on obtaining the sculptures by Joseph Straub, who came to Varaždin in person2 and executed the sculptures, gloria, angels, capitels and the "new shell-like ornament".3 Ivo Lentić transcribed and published several archieval documents revealing the history of the altar building which ended with a trial between the sculptor Antonio Reiner and the head of the Monastery. The canonical visitation from 1752 describes the altar of St John of Nepomuk as having the canvas painting with the Saints figure.4 It migh be that the painting was keeping in front of the sculpture and removing only on special occations to reveal the sculpture of the Saint.5
The architectural part of the original altar made by Mathias Saurer was dismantled in 1845 and sold to the Kneginec priest Emerik Andrašević for 130 Fl.6 In 1845 during the refurnishing of the church led by the Mother Florijana Karger the classicistic altar was built and the reliquiary of St Victoria, the gift of Josef Kramer, bishop of Graz from 1841, was placed under its mensa.7 The carved ornaments in vegetal and bird forms were reused from some of the dismantled altars. They can be connected to the Varaždin sculptor Johann Adam Rosemberger who also executed some artworks for the church.8 Originally the painting of St John of Nepomuk made by the Varaždin painter Stjepan Lypoldt in 1845 was placed there,9 but in 1970s it was replaced by the Straub's sculpture previously kept in the monastery chapel. For a shorter period the sculpture was also positioned on the wall mounted console placed to the right of the triumphal arch, dating from 1845.10
Components
- Carpentry
- Completed: ca. 1845
- Patron(s): owner, monastery
- Material(s): wood
- Sculpture
- Sculpture of John the Nepomuk
- Author: Joseph Straub (Wiesensteig 1712 – Maribor 1756)
- Completed: 1745 – 1752
- Patron(s): owner, monastery
- Sculpture
- Ornamentation
- Author: Johann Adam Rosemberger ( – Varaždin 1758)
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): wood
- Painting
- The painting of St John of Nepomuk
- Author: Stjepan Lypoldt (Karlovac 1806 – Varaždin 1901)
- Completed: 1845
- Patron(s): owner, monastery
- Technique(s): oil on canvas
- Polychromy
- Polychromy of the sculpture of John of Nepomuk
- Author: Johann Valentin Karcher (Klagenfurt? – Varaždin 1761)
- Completed: 1745 – 1752
- Patron(s): owner, monastery
- Technique(s): water gilding
- Material(s): gold leaf
- Polychromy
- Polychromy of retable
- Completed: 1845
- Patron(s): owner, monastery
Conservation-restoration
- 1971
Treatment Description
The sculpture of St John of Nepomuk was exhibited in the Varaždin City Museum (Gradski muzej Varaždin) in 1971.10 It is very probable that a restoration treatment was carried out prior to exhibiting.
Images
- The altar of St John of Nepomuk (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Miroslav Pavličić, 2018)
- The sculpture of St John of Nepomuk (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by Miroslav Pavličić, 2018)
Catalogue entry prepared by Ksenija Škarić and Martina Ožanić
Recommended citation: Ksenija Škarić and Martina Ožanić, Left Side Altar of St John of Nepomuk in the Ursuline Church in Varaždin, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 25/10/2025) URL
