Izvorni znanstveni članak
ST. JEROME’S CHURCH IN ŠTRIGOVA : Ranger's Colorism
Ivan Srša
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod (do umirovlj.), Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
SUMMARY
John the Baptist Ranger (Ivan Krstitelj Ranger) finished painting the sanctuary of St. Jerome's Church as early as 1744, but the church was completed only in 1761. The graphic artwork published in Bedeković's “Natale solum” (1752) shows that the bulb above the sanctuary had been removed during one of the previous restorations. The initial architectural and coloristic concept of the sanctuary and its external space were significantly degraded by this construction intervention, whereas initially great care had been taken to have it blend into the landscape with its ‘malachite’ green painted shingles of the bulb. By comparing the graphic art with the existing appearance of the church, some details are evidence that changes had been made in respect to the concept drawing. Several small, but nevertheless important details, show that John the Baptist Ranger not only painted the sanctuary, but also took part in its architectural design and equipping of the sanctuary interior. The position of the tiny opening on the sanctuary ceiling beside the hand of the Queen of Heaven, outside the center of the painted medallion from which the rope of eternal light had once been hanging, shows that it had been made during the very construction, probably according to completed drawings for the future paintings. Ranger’s signed graphic work of art with the view of the main altar in St. Jerome’s church is the conceptual design for the construction of the future altar. The architecture and painting of St. Jerome’s sanctuary were planned at the same time, and the painted illusionistic architecture is not merely an addition to the real architecture; it complements it and is its integral part. The coloristic spaciousness of Ranger’s frescoes in St. Jerome’s church sanctuary emphasizes the background’s depth, the ambiguous lively candor of the sacral motifs and scenes of Jerome’s holiness glorification. The counterpoint to the depth of the two-dimensional planes with dominating purple (‘caput mortum’) pigment is the three-dimensional colorism of sacral motifs with dominating ‘ochre yellow and ochre red, smalt blue, green earth, green’ derived from a mixture of ‘smalt’ and ‘yellow ochre’. The restauration intervention on the frescoes carried out in 1919 can be compared to the construction intervention on the sanctuary roof in respect to aggressiveness. On that occasion Ranger’s ‘caput mortum’ painted backgrounds were “refreshed” by light ochre overpaints which ruined the depth of the ‘purple’ pigment and its original sacredness with the static flatness and monotonous worldliness quality of ‘ochre’. With the help of restauration works on the wall paintings carried out between 2003 and 2018 (with minor discontinuations), the repainted parts were removed, and the purple color was returned to the background.
Ključne riječi
Key words: Štrigova, St. Jerome’s church; Ivan Krstitelj Ranger (John the Baptist Ranger); frescoes
Hrčak ID:
326179
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.12.2023.
Posjeta: 0 *