Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2014.10
Ornamentation of the Wooden Altars in the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier in Rtić
Martina Wolff Zubović
orcid.org/0000-0001-9621-342X
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Dokumentacijski odsjek za pokretnu baštinu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The church of St. Francis Xavier in Rtić, a village near Lukovdol in the Gorski Kotar region, was erected around 1715, according to Jesuit mission reports. It was furnished with a wooden polychromed main altar, dedicated to the patron of the church, and side altars of the Holy Guardian Angel and St. Barbara. These were preceded by four illusionistic altars, referred to in a 1725 report as “marble altars”. Next to the triumphal arch, even today there are visible traces of painting from the altars of Virgin and Child and the Holy Guardian Angel. No archival records were found as to the dating and provenance of the main and the side altars, and it remains unclear when the illusionistic altars had been replaced by wooden ones. This most certainly took place after 1725, and the reasons might be found in the increased popularity of the sanctuary and the necessity for more sumptuous furnishings and a richer iconographic programme, which was probably made possible by plentiful offerings. We attempted to answer the question of at least an approximate dating of the altars and its association to a specific artistic circle or workshop by way of a detailed analysis of the ornamentation, the thus far least studied component of the altar. Literature has associated the wooden altars of the church with the “golden altars” in neighboring Slovenia. The assumption proved to be wrong, as neither the main nor the side altars were decorated with auricular ornaments, typical of the golden altars of the second half of the 17th century.
All three altars are adorned by an acanthus with a ribbon, an ornament that appeared in altars of continental Croatia around 1715, following the prevalence of the “pure” acanthus ornament and lasting into the 1730s. At that time, the base of the ribbon and tendril became more often interlocked with motifs from the decorative repertoire of a leaf and strapwork ornament, while the share of acanthus was reduced. This same type of ornament is on the main and the side altars interpreted in different ways. The main altar has the separate elements of the ribbon and the acanthus branch mostly joined together, to the point that impression is given of the acanthus leaves sprouting from the ribbon. A distant model for this type of acanthus can be traced down to the ornamental plates of German printmaker Johann Leonhard Eisler (1697−1733), while similar varieties of acanthus motif with a ribbon are also found on the Pauline altars in Remete. What also ties the main altar with the Pauline woodcarving workshop is its architectural structure, with the receding central portion flanked by slanted sides with niches that make the altar reminiscent of the main altar of the Church of St. Nicholas in Jasenovac, also attributed to the Pauline workshop.
A comparison for the side altars of the Holy Guardian Angel and St. Barbara can be found in the nearby Vinji Vrh pri Semiču in Slovenia. Here, the main altar of the Holy Trinity Church, by an unknown master, was polychromed and gilded by F. A. Nirenberg of Višnja Gora in 1741, according to an inscription on the predella. Similar ornamental motifs (a series of tassels and acanthus leaves, a motif of a pointed square bordered with acanthus leaves, mirror-symmetrical compositions of acanthus tendrils with stiffly executed leaves and pronounced graphism, as well as tiny volute-scrolled clouds that fill up the upper halves of the niches) tie the side altars in Rtić with the main altar of the Holy Trinity Church in Semič. Also comparable are the sculptures of both altars, with their static postures and schematic execution, which points to the possibility that they were a work of the same, probably local workshop that was active on both sides of the Kupa River. Owing to their shared formal features and the type of decorative motifs, the sacristy cabinet and the two pulpits make up an ensemble that originated prior to the altars, probably around the mid-17th century. In
addition, the confessional from the Church of the Virgin of Carmel in Moravička Sela is probably the work of the same master (or workshop).
Ključne riječi
18th century; altar construction; wooden altars; ornamentation; Gorski Kotar; Rtić; Chapel of St. Francis Xavier; Slovenia; Vinji Vrh pri Semiču
Hrčak ID:
133053
URI
Datum izdavanja:
22.12.2014.
Posjeta: 1.741 *