Location
Germany, Bavaria, Grafing
Market Church of St Trinity (Marktkirche Hl. Dreifaltigkeit)
Catholic parish of St Ägidius Grafing
Artwork
High Altar of the Market Church of St Trinity, Grafing
Type
High altar
Dimensions
Height: 576 cm, width: 660 cm
Critical History
Lippert has listet 1 mainaltar and 2 sidealtars under number 72 1 Volk dates the equipment in 1748.2 The church was renovated from 1743 to 1748. Only the mainaltar from that time is still there. The sculptures representing St Florian (left) and St Georg (right) are located above two passages left and right of the altar. Four sculptures of St Sebastian, St Franziskus, St Rochus and St Wendelin belonged probably to the sidealtars. They were stored on a loft in context with the changes in 19th century. During the restoration in 1957-59 the sculptures were brought back into the church and restored. On the facade is a sculpture of St Florian. B. Schäfer contributes it to the work of J.B. Straub.3
Construction / Execution
There is a brickwork table under the architecture of the altar and the sculptures are made by wood. From the backside you can see that a former smaller construction (altar from 1680 by carpenter Kaspar Göttfried Grafing) 3 was used as a base for the altar of the 18th century. Straub added the parts on both sides, the colums, the baldachin, the passages the ornaments and the sculptures. In the front of the mensa is integrated a sarcophague with the skeleton of St Marcellus.
Components
- Carpentry
- Completed: 1748
- Patron(s): Johann Georg Nocker, individual devotion
- Technique(s): sawing, wood carving
- Sculpture
- Author: Johann Baptist Straub (Wiesensteig ca. 1704 – Munich 1784)
- Completed: 1748
- Technique(s): wood carving
- Polychromy
- Painting
- Author: Johann Baptist Zimmermann (Wessobrunn 1680 – Munich 1758)
- Completed: 1743 – 1748
- Technique(s): oil on canvas
Comment
Johann Baptist Zimmermann painted the frescos on the ceiling in 1746 and also the towel painting in the mainaltar. Johann Georg Nocker who worked in Munich as a banker was married with a daughter of Georg Grandauer. Nocker payed the craftsmen who worked in St Trinity. In the list of Lippert is mentioned that Straub has carved a pietà (Nr. 26) for the private chapel of Nocker. In context with the St Trinity church in Grafing there is another pietà mentioned that Straub made for mister Grandauer (either the father Georg or the son Franz Borgias) it has the number 72.1
Christian Jorhan was working in 1748 in the workshop of J. B. Straub. In the same time Straub worked in Reisach (Simon Stock altar) and Munich Berg am Laim. So its reasonable that Straub was not able to do the work on its own. In Grafing the bodies of the sculptures seem to be more slim as sculptures by Johann Baptist Straub. May be Christian Jorhan executed some of them.
Conservation-restoration
- 19th century
Treatment Description
Removing 2 sidealtars. Sculptures were kept on the loft
- 1957-59
Treatment Description
Changes of 19th century were removed. The sculptures came back into the church and were restored. Presentation from now on on pedestals without sidealtars. Idea of creating the impression of a 18th century room and equipment.
- 1995
Treatment Description
Fixing of the painting layer, filling of lacunae, retouching by atelier Thomas Schoeller, Munich.
Images
- The highaltar in the Marketchurch St Trinity, Grafing photo Bavarian State Office for Monuments and Sites Michael Forstner 12.2017
- The sculpture of St Sebastian in the Marketchurch St Trinity, Grafing photo Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites Michael Forstner 12.2017
- The sculpture of St Wendelin in the Marketchurch St Trinity, Grafing photo Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites photo Michael Forstner 12.2017
- The sculpture of St Franziskus in the Marketchurch St Trinity, Grafing photo Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites Michael Forstner 12.2017
- The sculpture of St Wendelin in the Marketchurch St Trinity, Grafing photo Bavarian State Department of Monuments and Sites Michael Forstner 12.2017Grafing
Catalogue entry prepared by Rupert Karbacher
Recommended citation: Rupert Karbacher, High Altar of the Market Church of St Trinity, Grafing, in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 25/01/2026) URL
