Location
Slovenia, Malečnik
Parish Church of St Peter (Župnijska cerkev sv. Petra)
Artwork
Side Altar of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in the Parish Church of St Peter in Malečnik
Type
Side altar
Dimensions
Height: 330 cm, width: 196 cm, depth: 80 cm
Critical History
In the parish church of St Peter in Malečnik there are six side altars placed in the side chapels, facing the entrance. Sergej Vrišer attributed two of them (the altars of St Francis Xavier and St Anthony of Padua) to Joseph Straub and all the others to Philipp Jakob Straub.1 Vrišer also wrote that according to the chronicle, the polychromy was done by Dominik Cocconi in 1746.2 He published a transcription of a receipt from 1796 with the payment to a painter named Geringer and to the sculptor Joseph Holzinger for their works on the altars.3
The side altar of the Fourteen Holy Helpers is placed in the first chapel on the right side of the church. The painting with the depiction of the Fourteen Holy Helpers is painted by Franz Ignaz Flurer.4 On the left of the painting, there is a sculpture of St Sebastian, and on the right of St Joseph. Both sculptures show characteristics of Philipp Jakob Straub’s personal style: long, thin faces, long noses, big eyes, rich dresses and elegant postures. The sculpture of St Sebastian can be compared to the sculpture of the same saint kept in the storage of the Universalmuseum Joanneum, Alte Galerie and to the sculpture of the same saint in Budapest – both are attributed works of Philipp Jakob Straub.
Construction / Execution
The altar is made of wood. The first polychromy of the architecture is silvered with a layer of coloured varnish. The sculptures and ornaments imitate gold.
Components
- Carpentry
- Carpentry
- Technique(s): sawing, wood carving
- Material(s): softwood
- Sculpture
- Sculpture
- Author: Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706 – Graz 1774)
- Completed: 1746
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): limewood
- Polychromy
- Polychromy
- Author: Dominicus Cagoni
- Completed: 1746 –
- Technique(s): oil, water gilding
- Material(s): bole, calcium carbonate, gold leaf, natural resin, silver leaf, size
- Polychromy
- First repolychromy
- Technique(s): oil, oil gilding
- Material(s): metal leaf, metallic pigment, oil
Comment
The side altar has one repolychromy. The original polychromy of the architecture was polished silver on red bole. Then a coating with coloured varnish was applied. Sculptures and ornaments imitate gold.
The construction of the altar is in stable condition. The limewood of the sculptures is badly infested by wood-boring insects. The ground is lifting, cracking, falling off and there are some paint losses. Some gilded parts are covered with metal leaves and bronze painting.
Images
- The side altar of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in the Parish Church of St Peter in Malečnik (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The upper part of the side altar of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in Malečnik (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of St Sebastian (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
- The sculpture of St Joseph (Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, photo by Valentin Benedik, 2018)
Catalogue entry prepared by Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek
Recommended citation: Valentina Pavlič and Saša Dolinšek, Side Altar of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in the Parish Church of St Peter in Malečnik, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 15/10/2025) URL
