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Pulpit in the Parish Church of Our Lady of Snow in Kutina (Croatian Conservation Institute, Photo Archive, photo by Goran Tomljenović, 2017)

The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by: Goran Tomljenović, Croatian Conservation Institute, 2017)

John the Evangelist (Croatian Conservation Institute, Photo Archive, photo by Goran Tomljenović, 2017)

Pulpit in the Parish Church of Our Lady of Snow in Kutina, reconstruction of polychromy from 1765 (drawing by Maja Kamenar and Ksenija Škarić)

Location

Croatia, Sisak-Moslavina County, Kutina

Parish Church of Our Lady of Snow (Župna crkva Majke Božje Snježne)

Artwork

The pulpit in the Parish Church of Our Lady of Snow in Kutina

Type

Pulpit

Dimensions

Height: 762 cm, width: 475 cm, depth: 240 cm

Critical History

The need for a new pulpit was pointed out in the records of the canonical visitation in 1758, prompting the parish priest to take care of it. 1 The newly erected pulpit was first mentioned in the text of the canonical visitation in 1761 with compliments about its beauty 2 and in 1765 as being recently gilded. 3 Apart from the parish priest Ivan Protulipec who conducted the renovation of the church,4 the noble family of Erdödy, the patrons of the church, were probably also involved in the commission of the pulpit. 5 Doris Baričević attributed it to Franz Anton on the basis of stylistic resemblance to his other (proposed) works, emphasizing that its lavish ornamental decorations, numerous sculptures and carved relief scenes of high quality make it one of the most extraordinary works not just of Franz Anton's workshop, but also in the 18^thcentury in north-west Croatia. 6 The individual stylistic features of Franz Anton Straub's work can be also recognized on the sculpture of Ascending Christ7 placed nearby on a confesional dating from 1986.8

Construction / Execution

The pulpit is situated on the left side of the nave from where it is accessed up stairs. The body of the pulpit consists of the four massive ornamented volutes on which four Evangelists sit, thus forming three fields for relief scenes within frames of rocaille ornaments. They represent key events from the life of Moses: Receiving the Ten Commandments, Dance around The Golden Calf, and The Brass Serpent. On the canopy above is the sculptural scene of The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, when Jesus appeared in glory before three Apostles, Peter, James and John, whereas the figure of Moses holding the Tablets of the Decalogue stands on the left. The figure of an angel with a trumpet-like instrument stands on the base, and a small putto carrying a cross sits on the top of the stairs. Between the canopy and the pulpit is a rear panel fixed to the wall and embellished with a painting in a frame of rocaille motifs 9 and flanked by large volutes with small sitting putti. The present polychromy is typical for the workshop of Petar Rutar who carried out many renovations in the area in the first decade of the 20^th century.10 The repolychromy was probably executed in 1904 when the church was closed for two months because of the thorough renovation.11 In the same renovation the six-angle console was added.12

Components

Carpentry: Author: Franz Anton Straub (Wiesensteig 1726 – Zagreb ca. 1774); Completed: 1758 – 1761; Patron(s): owner, parish; Technique(s): sawing
Sculpture: Author: Franz Anton Straub (Wiesensteig 1726 – Zagreb ca. 1774); Completed: 1758 – 1761; Technique(s): wood carving; Material(s): limewood
Polychromy: Completed: 1761 – 1765; Material(s): calcium sulphate dihydrate, gold leaf, iron oxide, lead red, lead white, red iron oxide, silver leaf, vermillion
Polychromy: First repolychromy; Author: Petar Rutar (Cerkno pri Idriji 1856 – Osilnica 1948); Completed: ca. 1904; Technique(s): oil gilding, stencil ornamentation; Material(s): aluminium leaf, barium sulphate, brass leaf, calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate dihydrate, gold leaf, metallic pigment, natural terpen resin, oil, protein, Prussian blue, red iron oxide, softwood, vermillion, zink white
Painting: Completed: 1765 – 1904; Material(s): metallic pigment

Conservation-restoration

2022: Strategy: preserving one or several repolychromies, removing dirt; Treatment Description
In 2022 the Croatian Conservation Institute executed conservation-restoration investigations of the polychrome wooden inventory and paintings within the church.13

Images

Pulpit in the Parish Church of Our Lady of Snow in Kutina (Croatian Conservation Institute, Photo Archive, photo by Goran Tomljenović, 2017)
The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Croatian Conservation Institute Photo Archive, photo by: Goran Tomljenović, Croatian Conservation Institute, 2017)
John the Evangelist (Croatian Conservation Institute, Photo Archive, photo by Goran Tomljenović, 2017)
Pulpit in the Parish Church of Our Lady of Snow in Kutina, reconstruction of polychromy from 1765 (drawing by Maja Kamenar and Ksenija Škarić)

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Catalogue entry prepared by Martina Ožanić and Ksenija Škarić

Recommended citation: Martina Ožanić and Ksenija Škarić, The pulpit in the Parish Church of Our Lady of Snow in Kutina, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 22/05/2025) URL

Sources and Bibliography

Archive of the Archbishopric of Zagreb, Canonical visitations, Čazma Archdeaconry, protocol 108/IV, 1761
Archives of the Archdiocese of Zagreb, Canonical visitations, Čazma Archdeaconry, protocol 108/IV, 1765
Parish Archive Kutina, Liber memorabilium parochiae Kutinensis
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Doris Baričević, Propovjedaonice 18. stoljeća kontinentalne Hrvatske, katalog, PhD Thesis, Zagreb, 1971
Doris Baričević, Članovi kiparske obitelji Straub u Hrvatskoj, in: Peristil. Zbornik radova za povijest umjetnosti, 35–36, Radovan Ivančević (ed.), Zagreb, 1992–1993, 193–218
Josip Buturac, Kutina. Uz 200. obljetnicu župne crkve, Zagreb, Kršćanska sadašnjost, 1977
Andrija Lukinović, Kutina – župa i župna crkva, in: Kutina. Sakralno kulturno-povijesni vodič, Andrija Lukinović (ed.), Zagreb, Glas koncila, 2006, 1–12
Mirjana Repanić-Braun, Zidne slike, in: Kutina. Sakralno kulturno-povijesni vodič, Andrija Lukinović (ed.), Zagreb, Glas koncila, 2006, 21–31
Doris Baričević, Unutrašnje uređenje župne crkve Majke Božje Snježne u Kutini, in: Kutina. Sakralno kulturno-povijesni vodič, Andrija Lukinović (ed.), Zagreb, Glas koncila, 2006, 13–19
Doris Baričević, Barokno kiparstvo sjeverne Hrvatske, Zagreb, Školska knjiga; Institut za povijest umjetnosti, 2008
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ksenija Škarić, Polikromija i polikromatori oltara 17. i 18. stoljeća u sjeverozapadnoj Hrvatskoj, PhD Thesis, Zagreb, 2014
Croatian Conservation Institute, Ksenija Škarić, Kutina, župna crkva Blažene Djevice Marije Snježne, drveni polikromirani sakralni inventar. Elaborat konzervatorsko-restauratorskih istraživanja, Zagreb, 2022

Notes

1 Canonical visitations, Čazma Archdeaconry, 108/IV, 1758, 91: "De cathedra. Haec est operis rudis et ordinarij, majori tantae ecclesiae majestati dedecori quam ornamento; cujus proinde novae erigendae cura ac solicitudo domino parocho est sedulo commendata." (Transcribed by Šime Demo)

2 Canonical visitations, Čazma Archdeaconry, 108/IV, 1761, 158: "Post ultimam visitationem fabricata est nova cathedra sat magna et pulchra operis statuarij, aplicata muro in medio ecclesiae, sed necdum depicta." (Transcribed by Šime Demo)

3 Canonical visitations, Čazma Archdeaconry, 108/IV, 1765, 229: "Cathedra, quae prius sumptuose elaborata fuit, noviter diversis coloribus etiam inaurata cernitur." (Transcribed by Šime Demo)

4 Josip Buturac, 1977, 81; Andrija Lukinović, 2006, 8

5 Doris Baričević, 1992–1993, 200

6 Ibidem; Doris Baričević, 2008., 274–276. Detailed description also in: Doris Baričević, 1971, 176, 177; Doris Baričević, 2006, 16–17

7 Ksenija Škarić, 2022, 475.

8 Parish Archive Kutina, Liber memorabilium parochiae Kutinensis, 463.

9 Doris Baričević considers the painting to be younger than the pulpit construction. Doris Baričević, 1971, 177. Mirjana Repanić-Braun writes that the figure of bishop was painted in the19th century. Mirjana Repanić-Braun, 2006, 30. There is also a probability that the original painting from the 18th century is still existing, but partly repainted by Petar Rutar, who altered the background using the metal paint in the manner he used in the Parish church in Kloštar Ivanić.

10 Ksenija Škarić, 2014, 176, 539–540.

11 Andrija Lukinović, 2006, 11

12 Ksenija Škarić, 2022, 28.

13 Ksenija Škarić, 2022.