Professional paper
Reconstruction and Reintegration of the Painted Layer on the Nave Vault of St. Florian's Church in Varaždin
Ivana Drmić
; Croatian Conservation Institute, Department for Wall Paintings and Mosaics, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
St. Florian’s Church in Varaždin was built in 1738, at the site of an old wooden chapel which had been brought down in 1733. The former year is considered the year the building’s construction was completed, as indicated by an inscription on the triumphal arch: “IN HONOREM SANCTI FLORIANI ET MARTIRIS HAEC AECCLESIA AEDIFICATA EST ANNO DNI 1738“.
On the western and the central bay of the nave vault of St. Florian’s Church there are six evenly spaced painted medallions. From 2008 to 2011 they were subjected to comprehensive conservation efforts, as already in the course of the investigations carried out in 1997 it was established, that underneath the 19th-century overpaint an older layer of wall painting has been preserved, dating from the 18th century and matching the time of the church’s construction. Once the overpaint, hade been compleately removed, the depictions of St. Florian, the Holy Trinity, St. Lucy, St. Apollonia, St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Barbara were revealed in the medallions. Their author was recognized to be the Varaždin painter, gilder and polychromatist Blaž Gruber (around 1700 – Varaždin, 1753). In the course of conservation, special attention was paid to reintegrating and reconstructing the damages to the medallions, in particular the large lacunae in the depiction of St. Florian, where reconstruction was done in the dry-pastel technique. That way the rich Baroque wall paintings have been presented, making the church, together with its furnishing, a stylistic ensemble.
Keywords
wall paintings; 18th century; Varaždin; St. Florian’s Church; Blaž Gruber; conservation work; reconstruction of the painted layer; dry pastel; gum arabica
Hrčak ID:
122553
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2013.
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