Original scientific paper
The Former Jesuit Church of St Michael in Osijek in Central European Context
Margareta Turkalj Podmanicki
; Umjetnička akademija, Osijek
Katarina Horvat-Levaj
; Institut za povijest umjetnosti, Zagreb
Abstract
The former Jesuit church of St Michael in the Old Town (Tvrđa) of Osijek was constructed as a Wandpfeiler church with an impressive twin-belfry façade, and was hitherto considered the realization of a single 1725 project. The study of the architectural structure of the church, as well as the written sources and similar examples in the Central European area, has brought forth some new conclusions. The church was constructed in two phases: in the fi rst phase (1725-1730), the initial structure was begun as a traditional version of a single-nave space with polygonal chancel. In the second phase (1733-1734), the original design was signifi cantly altered and the church was realized as a modern Baroque structure with the nave widened by two pairs of chapels separated by massive wall-piers – Wandpfeiler. The church displays certain similarities with high- and late-Baroque churches in Central Europe, but also some unique features which suggest that its architect should be sought in the part of Hungary which, after the liberation from Ottoman rule, shared the same art-historical situation with Slavonia. The so-called Danube builders’ circle, active in the province of Lower Austria and Hungary,
includes the builder János Hölbling (Johann Hölbling) from Pest, who designed the great Armoury in Osijek built in 1733-1734, i. e. contemporary to the second, Wandpfeiler-plan phase of the Jesuit church. The churches in Hungary ascribed to Hölbling, or presuming his collaboration, show characteristics similar to the church in Osijek. The particularities of St Michael’s church (restraint in the use of formal elements and blocklike structure of spatial disposition) are considered refl ections of the church’s military surroundings. The twin-belfry façade of the church of St Michael, characteristic for the architecture of the Habsburg Monarchy, was also constructed over a longer period of time consisting of three phases. In the first phase (1733-1735) the façade remained unfi nished and without belfries. The second phase (1741) was marked by the beginning of the construction of two narrow belfries, which were fi nally enlarged in the third phase (1765-1766). The distinct feature of the two belfries projecting from the lateral outlines of the church distinguishes the St Michael façade as an example of a representative and monumenta twin-belfry façade, rather rare in Croatian lands. The prototype for the twin-belfry façade within Baroque sacral architecture of Central Europe was found in Salzburg Cathedral, which was widely accepted after the realization of the representative model of the Jesuit church in Vienna, mainly within the corpus of early-Baroque Jesuit architecture. In the context of late-Baroque sacral architecture of mid-18th century, the façade of the church in Osijek is distinguished by its solemn and rather unarticulated design, in
accordance to its setting within the fortifi ed town as well as the forthcoming Classicism.
Keywords
18th century; architecture; Slavonia; Osijek; church of St Michael; wall-pier – Wandpfeiler; Danube builders’ circle; Janos Hölbling; twin-belfry façade
Hrčak ID:
188761
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2011.
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