Location
Austria, Styria, Hollenegg
Parish Church St Aegydius (Pfarrkirche Hl Ägydius)
Artwork
The high altar of the Parish church at castle Hollenegg
Type
High altar
Critical History
The castle and the parish church of Hollenegg date back to the 12th century, whereby the church has been rebuilt in 1750 by Marburg builder Johann Fuchs.1 The oval, bright main room with four niches shows a high quality rococo interior. The masterpiece, the high altar by Philipp Jakob Straub, consists of an ensemble combining a large carved canopy, a high altarpiece with carved rocaille decoration and four white-coloured sculptures. On two pillars in the lower zone there are two angels, genuflecting on a volute-shaped ornament. They show an impressive wealth of detail and appear very dynamic and are comparable to the four angels of Ehrenhausen, which hold the Instruments of the Passion and which are highly impetuous. They typify the artist’s sculptural climax.2 In the upper zone, we see two putti holding up the canopy, glancing at the high altarpiece.
Construction / Execution
The canopy is marbled in red and grey nuances and shows gilded rocaille-ornaments. The sculpture’s white colour may imitate marble.
Components
- Carpentry
- Completed: 1755 – 1760
- Technique(s): sawing, wood carving
- Material(s): wood
- Sculpture
- Author: Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706 – Graz 1774)
- Completed: 1755 – 1760
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Material(s): wood
- Polychromy
- Completed: 1755 – 1760
Comment
The altar shows a very good conservation status.
Images
- The high altar of the parish church at castle Hollenegg (photo by Diocesan Museum Graz, Christina Pichler, 2015)
- Angel (left), Detail, parish church, castle Hollenegg (photo by Diocesan Museum Graz, Christina Pichler, 2015)
- Angel (right), Detail, parish church, castle Hollenegg (photo by Diocesan Museum Graz, Christina Pichler, 2015)
- Putto (left), Detail, parish church, castle Hollenegg (photo by Diocesan Museum Graz, Christina Pichler, 2015)
- Putto (right), Detail, parish church, castle Hollenegg (photo by Diocesan Museum Graz, Christina Pichler, 2015)
Catalogue entry prepared by Christina Pichler and Dagmar Probst
Recommended citation: Christina Pichler and Dagmar Probst, The high altar of the Parish church at castle Hollenegg, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 25/01/2026) URL
