Location
Austria, Styria, Söding-St. Johann
On the route to the Calvary Church in Köppling, St. Johann (Am Weg zur Kalvarienbergkirche in Köppling, St. Johann)
Artwork
Four sandstone sculptures of the suffering Christ on the route to the Calvary Church in Köppling, St. Johann (Söding)
Type
Sculptural group
Critical History
The sandstone sculptures represent the suffering Christ in four different ways of depiction: Christ on the Mount of Olives, Christ at the whipping post, the resting Christ and Christ carrying the cross. According to Ernst Lasnik they are comparable to the statues in Maria Lankowitz and the Holy Mountain (Bärnbach).1
According to Ernst Lasnik, the sculptures can be dated to the first half of the 18th century.2 Therefore they would be attributable to the very beginning of Philipp Jakob Straub’s oeuvre. Especially remarkable are the drapery, the sophisticated composition of the body as well as the emotional facial expression. The two drilled curls of the resting Christ’s beard can also be found by St Francis on the façade of Mariahilf Church.
Construction / Execution
The sculptures are made of carved sandstone.
Components
- Sculpture
- Author: Philipp Jakob Straub (Wiesensteig 1706 – Graz 1774)
- Completed: 1725 – 1730
- Technique(s): stone carving
- Material(s): sandstone
Comment
The heights of the sculptures are: Christ on the Mount of Olives 125 cm, Christ at the whipping post 171 cm, the resting Christ 141 cm, Christ carrying the cross 192 cm.
Conservation-restoration
- 2018
Treatment Description
On the upper areas, the sculpture’s surfaces partially show moss and lichen growth as well as other discolorations.
Images
- The statue of Christ on the Mount of Olives on the way to Calvary Church in Söding-St. Johann (photo by Dagmar Probst, 2018)
- Christ at the whipping post, Söding-St. Johann (photo by Dagmar Probst, 2018)
- Resting Christ, Söding-St. Johann (photo by Dagmar Probst, 2018)
- Resting Christ, Söding-St. Johann (photo by Dagmar Probst, 2018)
- Christ carrying the cross, Söding-St. Johann (photo by Dagmar Probst, 2018)
- Christ carrying the cross, Söding-St. Johann (photo by Dagmar Probst, 2018)
Catalogue entry prepared by Christina Pichler and Dagmar Probst
Recommended citation: Christina Pichler and Dagmar Probst, Four sandstone sculptures of the suffering Christ on the route to the Calvary Church in Köppling, St. Johann (Söding), in: TrArS – Tracing the Art of the Straub Family, 2018, (accessed 25/01/2026) URL
