Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2022.3
Miraculous crucifix in Čučerje
Ksenija Škarić
orcid.org/0000-0003-4496-6010
; Croatian Conservation Institute, Department for Polychrome Wooden Sculpture, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The parish church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Čučerje, sustained serious damage during the earthquake in Zagreb and the surrounding area on 22 March 2020. The large crucifix, by an unknown creator in the first half of the 18th century, fell off the wall of the sanctuary from a great height, which caused extensive damage, and it broke into many pieces. This unfortunate event drew attention to the sculpture, and the Croatian Conservation Institute restored it the following year. The archival and restoration research that followed revealed fragments of the forgotten but fascinating history of the crucifix.
The parish church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Čučerje, was built in the 1730s under the auspices of Juraj Branjug (1677–1748), the Bishop of Zagreb. It was completed, painted and equipped by 1765, but it later underwent a number of alterations. The church was severely damaged in the earthquakes of 1822, 1837, 1880 and 1905/1906, and it was rebuilt after each one. The extensive damage encouraged new solutions for the use of the space of the church and resulted in changes of inventory. Today, the interior blends Baroque and contemporary influences, the result of renovation in the 1970s.
Comparative restoration and archival research on the crucifix has determined six historical phases. The crucifix was first mentioned in a canonical visitation of 1746, when it was located in the Chapel of the Holy Cross, in the western part of the cemetery that surrounded the church. It was considered miraculous at the time, and the figure of Christ was painted a dark colour. Water could be fed through a pipe to the chest to simulate bleeding. The piety of the blood of Christ became the focus during the second phase, when the corpus was painted a pink skin colour with many wounds, and it resembled the so-called plague crosses. Later, the chapel in the arcaded porch was demolished, and the crucifix was transported to the parish church. During the Classicist reconstruction, polychromy was reduced in both colour and form. This was followed by a complete renovation marked by numerous structural repairs. The need for such repairs was the result of one of the documented earthquakes, the one in 1880 or the two at the end of 1905 and the beginning of 1906. In 1962, the crucifix was completely restored, this time with a more successful restoration of the painted layer, after which it was displayed in the sanctuary. It was finally incorporated into a triptych in 1979, as the central scene, surrounded by Josip Restek's paintings Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and Resurrection.
Through its several restorations, the crucifix has undergone subtle iconographic transformations. The iconography, as well as the location of the crucifix, has related directly to its importance for the parish. Alterations demanded by the pastors in agreement with the (arch)diocese, and later by the civil authorities and professional services, have directly affected its reception among the congregation. The crucifix had its own place in the Chapel of the Holy Cross and attracted many pilgrims. However, it was somewhat neglected in the side nave of the church as only a small part of a rich inventory. It shares its final location in the sanctuary with the miraculous Madonna of Čučerje.
The goal of the current restoration project is to preserve and present the final phase and location of the crucifix, with the addition of new but easily removable parts: load-bearing substructures, and wicker crowns inspired by the old one, which has been lost.
Keywords
Čučerje, black crucifix, plague cross, earthquake, conservation, restoration
Hrčak ID:
290087
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2022.
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