Original scientific paper
St. Anne’s Chapel in Gornja Plemenšćina: Results of Research Conducted During Structural Renovation
Ivana Tomas
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Art History
Abstract
St. Anne’s Chapel in Gornja Plemenšćina located in the Krapina-Zagorje County suffered severe damage in the earthquakes that occurred in March and December 2020. As part of the structural renovation conducted in 2023, a series of interventions were carried out to stabilize and strengthen the building. The competent Conservation Department in Krapina mandated the preparation of a conservation study during structural rehabilitation to serve as the basis and framework for developing a presentation project for the chapel’s facade and interior. In order to assess the construction development of the monument, more precisely to valorize its historical layers that would later be affirmed by the project, in situ conservation-restoration probing, archival and documentation research, and a detailed analysis of the building's exterior and interior were carried out. The research was conducted in the period from March to May 2024, and it resulted in numerous new findings on the layering and architectural transformations of the monument. Through detailed reading of historical data about the chapel, combined with the results of conservation and restoration research and a precise analysis of the entire architectural composition of the monument, the sequence of its construction and furnishing has been defined. It can be traced from the first half or mid-15th century, when the chapel was built as a representative commission of the Counts of Celje, to the late 19th century, when it acquired its current form. The discovery of a valuable Gothic wall painting is of particular importance for understanding and interpreting its original appearance.
St. Anne’s Chapel was built on a property owned by the Kostel estate between 1430s and 1456. The Gothic building with a polygonal sanctuary, nave and sacristy was built on a more important property because the construction donors were the prominent Counts of Celje, the owners of the Kostel estate. The coat of arms of the Counts of Celje carved in the vault corbel of the chapel’s sanctuary indicates that it was a (direct) patronage by a nobleman, who confirms his patronage with his coat of arms. In this regard, the construction and furnishing of the chapel can be interpreted as an important commission of the Celjski family. Their coat of arms can also be found in their most ambitious commissioned project in the Zagorje County of that time—the monumental church of the Pauline monastery in Lepoglava. Particularly important is the fact that the coats of arms of the Celjski family in Gornja Plemenšćina and Lepoglava are the only preserved examples of the coats of arms of the powerful noble family on the territory of Hrvatsko Zagorje. The Celjski family also introduced the latest architectural trends from Central Europe to the region, including the stellar vault. The one in Lepoglava represents the first of its kind in northwestern Croatia. This type of a stellar vault, which “entered” Hrvatsko Zagorje through Lepoglava as a kind of reflection of high art, was later employed in several sacral buildings in Zagorje during the middle and second half of the 15th century (Taborsko, Zajezda, Petrovsko, Radoboj). Therefore, the execution of the stellar vault in St. Anne’s Chapel should be interpreted as a significant element of contemporary stylistic expression in architecture, but also as an obvious declaration of its patrons’ aesthetic preferences. The high aesthetic aspirations of the Celjski family as patrons of St. Anne’s Chapel are also evidenced by the discovery of valuable Gothic wall paintings that once adorned the entire interior of the building. Although these are only fragments of wall paintings, it should be emphasized that the figures of saints in Gornja Plemenšćina have a very high artistic value, and that their quality surpasses other paintings of the time on the territory of continental Croatia, and beyond. Considering that the coat of arms of Anna von Schaunberg has also been preserved in the chapel, as well as the fact that the chapel is dedicated to Saint Anne, two members of the Celjski family – Anna’s husband Herman II and their grandson Urlik II – have been proposed as potential patrons of its construction and furnishing.
Information about interventions in the 17th and 18th centuries is based on data from the protocols of canonical visitations and mainly refers to the repairs and furnishing of the medieval building. Particularly interesting is the information about the parallel functioning of St. Anne’s Chapel and the baroque Chapel of St. Anthony of Padua, which were connected and situated under the same roof. For a while, the visitators even documented them as the Chapel of St. Anne and St. Anthony. A more extensive renovation of the building took place from 1878 to 1882 and was supervised by Gustav Taussig. During the renovation, the original nave, sacristy and the Chapel of St. Anthony were removed. A new nave with a front bell tower and sacristy was built, and St. Anne’s Chapel took on its present-day appearance. During those interventions, only the polygonal Gothic sanctuary retained its primary appearance. Since the east wall with the triumphal arch was the only preserved part of the nave, Taussig’s nave essentially retained the same width as the medieval one. The most dominant part of the then renovated chapel was the tall bell tower in front of the west facade. In addition to the Gothic architectural features on the east part of the building (a polygonal sanctuary surmounted by a stellar vault and the east wall of the nave with a triumphal arch), the existing spacious nave with a massive front bell tower and the sacristy display the characteristics of late 19th-century architecture. Therefore, historical layering is an extremely important feature of this monument, which was taken into account when developing conservation guidelines for the presentation of the facade and interior of the chapel. Also, having its volume integrated into the spatial context and becoming part of its identity and integrity contributes to the high ambient value of St. Anne’s Chapel.
Keywords
St. Anne’s Chapel; Gornja Plemenšćina; Hrvatsko Zagorje; architecture; wall paintings; Gothic art; Counts of Celje; Gustav Taussig
Hrčak ID:
334862
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2024.
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