Prethodno priopćenje
https://doi.org/10.21857/94kl4c1p8m
THE SCULPTURE OF SAINT JOHN OF NEPOMUK FROM ZELENDVOR IN THE PARK OF THE OLD TOWN CASTLE IN VARAŽDIN
Ana Kaniški
Sažetak
Croatian Ban and Field Marshal Franz Nádasdy and his wife Suzana née Malatinski
erected a baroque Sculpture of Saint John of Nepomuk on their Zelendvor
estate around 1767. The stone carved image of the Czech priest was placed in the
castle's park after she had remarried following the death of her first husband Josip
Kazimir Drašković. Today, the sculpture adorns the south side of the park of the Old
Town Castle in Varaždin. Four documents, handwritten in ink and machine typed
from the end of August 1932 to November 1933, reveal it was placed there in
August 1932 by the Varaždin Museum Society. Local lawyer Nikola Pečornik complained
to the Varaždin City Council he would rather have the museum experts
place it inside the castle, in the northeast corner of the larger courtyard, to the left
of the buttress at the beginning of the smaller courtyard and to the right of the entrance
to the room displaying cannons. The preserved appeal outlines the difficulties
that arose when placing it outside the architectural monument. On August 24,
1932, Mayor Stjepan Novaković tried to resolve the dispute with the help of other
experts and city representatives in the premises of the castle itself. There, architect
Artur Kaderávek stated the museum experts had followed his advice regarding
the location of the sculpture, while city engineer Viktor Rogina and Varaždin City
Council member Mirko Hikec sided with Pečornik, who believed the sculpture in
the park would give the impression that it was created in the context of the very
castle. In a subsequent hearing, museum experts Krešimir Filić and Adolf Wissert stated they acted in accordance with the law and that the building materials and
workers who were building the pedestal for the baroque sculpture had been paid.
On August 25, the President of the Varaždin Museum Society Adolf Wissert and
Mirko Hikec reached a compromise allowing the workers to finish constructing the
pedestal and obliging the museum experts to remove the sculpture if recommended
so by an expert. In 1933, Mayor Stjepan Novaković decided to consult with
the conservator Gjuro Szabo, secretary of the former National Commission for
the Preservation of Artistic and Historical Monuments in the Kingdoms of Croatia
and Slavonia. No documents have been discovered that would reveal what Gjuro
Szabo, Filić's longtime friend and adviser on museum and monument protection
issues, recommended. Unfortunately, the preserved complaint does not provide
a reason for the museumization of the sculpture from the Zelendvor estate which
was at the time governed by Josip, the son of Marko Bombelles Jr. Six perserved
letters and a postcard, written mostly in 1932, reveal that the sculpture, the client
and the exact identification of the saint it represents were discussed by the Zagreb
canon and historian Ljudevit Ivančan and a certain Pavao Wittmann, both thinking
that it was St. Donatus. On the other hand, don Frane Bulić, the former conservator
for Dalmatia, believes that the statue is not suitable for placement in the castle
grounds and asks the members of the Varaždin Museum Societa to explain to him
the scientific reasons that led them to place it there. The preserved appeal and
corespondence document the effort of the Varaždin Museum Society to preserve
the baroque artwork for future generations who today enjoy another sculpture in
their city.
Ključne riječi
Zelendvor; Franjo Nadásdy; Suzana née Malatinski; Old Town Castle; Varaždin Museum Society; Nikola Pečornik; Gjuro Szabo; Bombelles family; Ljudevit Ivančan; Pavao Wittmann; don Frane Bulić; baroque sculpture; Saint John of Nepomuk; Varaždin.
Hrčak ID:
312835
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.2023.
Posjeta: 165 *