Altars of the Kaisersteinbruch Church
The altars of the Kaisersteinbruch Church were erected and donated by masters of the stonemasonry brotherhood . They consist of the hard, white Kaiserstein and show the beauty and versatility of this stone.
The magnificent stone altars give the interior of the Kaisersteinbruch Church its character. They are products of high stonemasonry and bear the names of the artists, first of all that of Elias Hügel, who created the high altar in 1720 and the altar in the side chapel in 1738. The wonderful statues have perished except for remains, which are now in the parish church of Purbach .
Exhibition hall for sacred sculpture
The guild church of the “ honorable handicraft of stonemasons and masons ”, built in 1618, offered itself as an exhibition hall for sacred sculpture . Here, some stonemasons and sculptors who had already left unforgettable traces of Baroque art with great names in architecture - Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach , Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt , the art of painting - Martino Altomonte , or sculpture - Lorenzo Mattielli , Giovanni Giuliani - created four great ones Examples of their skills, from the middle of the 17th century to the first half of the 18th century. In their church they had given free rein to their creativity, so they were no longer under the interference of great architects. Of course, the work on the Karlskirche , court library , ... influenced the works that were created this time in and for the province. The oldest of the altars is
The Regondi altar
The left side altar , an Antonius altar, comes from the first church, which was consecrated in 1652 and badly damaged in the hustle and bustle of the Turks in 1683. Erected in 1653 by the brothers Ambrosius and Giorgio Regondi , in that year Ambrosius Regondi took over the post of judge after Pietro Maino Maderno . The members of the Regondi family prayed in front of their own altar, later the abbot of the Altenburg Abbey Raymundus Regondi , Sebastian Regondi , his son Johann Baptist .
There are no representations or reports of the original appearance of the altar.
The art historian Ana-Maria Altmann:… When viewed as a whole, the mass of this altar leaves a heavy, clumsy impression compared to the other three altars. It has an early baroque composition that is reminiscent of the northern Italian structures of the style. The Scharpante is rigorous and lacks dynamism. A slightly profiled surface is flanked by two square, narrow plinths on which the lined up full and half columns stand. The plinths and capitals are designed in a risky perspective sequence .
The frontal width allows our gaze to devote full concentration to what is happening in the picture. Its frame consists of a profile with an oven ornament ( egg stick ). The base of the columns with their classic gate, scotia, astragalus profile is reminiscent of the Ionic column . The column itself is smooth. The neck of the column ends with a slightly profiled ring. Above the ring we find a structure that swells on both sides and ends as a strongly curved, spiral-shaped snail. The volute , a volute capital, is formed. Massive apples hang between the volutes, surrounded by strongly profiled open petals that are attached by loops.
The first round of the volutes is covered by half an acanthus leaf hanging over it. Between the volutes on the column body you can see a narrow row of pearl decoration, above which there is a wide row of oven ornaments. In the center axis of the capital, on the abacus (cover plate above the capital) between the volutes, is chiseled like a button, the flower shown below - this time closed.
The columns are separated by a architrave connected, whose almost delicate decoration provides a Fries represent This consists of each other and against each other. Rhythmically rows Akanthusblattvoluten. In the middle of the frieze a griffon face ( mascaron ) laughs at us . At the end of the frieze, Regondi surprises us with another botanical detail. In front of the square blocks one can see an acorn branch surrounded by acanthus leaves . On the side of the blocks facing the picture, we are amazed in front of a rural decor of a ring adorned with a pearl pattern, from which tulips protrude.
The altar ends in a broken arch - with front and back profiles - which looks like a ribbon thrown into the air. In this tympanum (here a segment of a circle ), looking down, with powerful wings and a putto face, there is an angel .
Above the arch in the central axis of the altar was the coat of arms of the Regondi family. (A photo from 1955 shows this, no longer preserved today) The artists designed this in the form of a blazon, the outline of which draws the shape of a vase with a thick belly and a short neck. (Shadow of the emblem) It can be seen that the neck is a broad volute, that the body is framed by acanthus leaves. Within the coat of arms you can still see a slightly profiled frame, in the form of an egg, on whose field the three stars are located as a symbol of the Regondi family. It is to be regarded as an important part of this altar.
Through the efforts of the Kaisersteinbruch Museum and Culture Association and the generosity of the Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Vienna: the picture “Whitsun miracle” has been on permanent loan since 1994 . The painter is not known
The Pery / Schilck Altar
The right side altar - a crucifixion altar - is the work of the stonemason sculptor Antonius Pery , around 1670, on the occasion of the master's degree and the marriage to Catharina, daughter of Simone Retacco .
After severe damage caused by the war, it was restored in 1717 by the son-in-law , the master stonemason and judge Johann Paul Schilck .
Altmann:… Pery built his altar under the right niche arch in classic baroque features. The altar fits into this niche like a pearl in a shell and rises up without disturbing the tips of the niche arch. The substructure is undecorated and serves as a support for the entire dynamics of the altar. The two pillars on the left and right are protected by a shell that is very slightly profiled at straight angles. The columns are considered an ornament and point from the base - with gate, scotia and astragalus - to the capital, on Roman composite columns .
The capitals with masterfully crafted acanthus leaves and volutes growing on top of each other support the high cornice . The architrave is simply undecorated except for the shell-shaped blason, which is placed in the central axis of the entire altar.
- JOHANN PAUL SCHILCKH - ANNA CATHARINA SCHILCKHIN
- 1717
- JOHANN PAUL SCHILCKH - ANNA CATHARINA SCHILCKHIN
The upper part, the coronation of the whole structure, used to have the statues of St. Catharina and Barbara worn. Now they are part of the high altar. In the upper area, Pery built the plate, framed by elongated volutes, which carries the arch decorated with round edge profiles. Originally two symmetrically placed putti leaned over the final arch .
In 1996, the Kaisersteinbruch Museum and Culture Association commissioned the akad. Painter Nadia Ioan, curator of the modern art department at the National Art Museum Bucharest, who depicted the "crucifixion of Christ" for the unadorned altar .
The high altar
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The high altar was consecrated to Saints Rochus and Sebastian . Two stone tablets on the side report - erected in 1720 - and opposite, the Constructores - Elias Hügel , Johann Paul Schilck , Johann Baptist Kral , Simon Sasslaber , Franz Trumler and Joseph Winkler . As court stonemason, Hügel received his orders from the imperial court building department, at that time these were the Vienna Karlskirche and Belvedere Palace .
Ana-Maria Altmann: ... Also based on the composition, it is certain that the leading hand for the sculptural design of the altar was Elias Hügel. The structure of the upper part of the altar contributed in particular to this. It is the capitals that have a classic acanthus ornamentation with a series of short leaves, between which the longer leaves support the three very strongly profiled volutes. The middle volute is smaller but not more delicate. It protrudes through the generously chiseled flower above in the curve of the abacus.
This flower has dynamic, curved, even frayed outlines that belong to the high baroque. The play of light and shadow plays a major role, as it enables us to look from the real into the unreal space.
The entire superstructure, which is intended as an architrave, presents a theatrical structure that aims to lead us into the heavenly spheres . It is a sequence of advancing and retreating, densely profiled stone blocks. The tympanum is missing (the wall surface framed by the cornice of a pediment ), the arch remains open, and the view up is unobstructed.
In the apse of this church, this altar also stands as a symbol for all that baroque art meant as a balance between earthly and heavenly life . Earthly life ( valley of tears ) is represented here by the heavy, simple and unadorned substructure, which shows only a few profiles and two consoles . The heavenly - a divine - realm begins with the capitals and has already been discussed above.
In between the towering pillars, as a symbol of the eternal striving of man in search of truth and the longing for paradise . They also stand as a symbol for nature, of constant passing away and resurrection .
Architecturally, the composition of the columns is given by the existing width of the apse. The field of vision is dominated by the columns of the altar. In the front plan there are two columns, followed by mock pilasters and bearing the same capitals. In the background, in the second plan, two free-standing columns, on which the statues of St. Catharina and Barbara (formerly Petrus and Paulus , the saints of the German stone masons) lean.
This altar was one of the first examples of sacred art that Elias Hügel created - you can read about how far his great achievements and artistic talents have developed and can be seen in his last work, the St. Mary's altar in the parish church of Stotzing .
Two adoring altar angels by Giovanni Giuliani once in the Kaisersteinbruch Church were located in the Purbach Church and could be bought back by the Museum and Culture Association Kaisersteinbruch in October 1990. Today's altarpiece was installed as a permanent loan in June 1992 thanks to the efforts of the association and the courtesy of the Cathedral and Diocesan Museum in Vienna, director Sàrolta Schredl, and the approval of Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër . ( Holy clan , by Franz Christoph Janneck ) Furthermore, the association has endeavored to supplement and decorate the bezel . God the Father in the Clouds was auctioned at Dorotheum Vienna, and the halo was made by the artist Alexandru Ciutureanu as part of the sculptor symposium Kaisersteinbruch .
1734 Letter from Meister Hügel to Abbot Robert Leeb
Concerning the assistant teacher Johann Hupfer and the altars (a detail from it): ... he doesn't know how to measure the incense , but the church is so full of smoke that he can hardly be seen at the altar. Which completely corrupts the altars which have cost so much.
The hill altar
The hill chapel was planned as his burial chapel with cross altar and his epitaph , built by Elias Hügel in 1738.
The teacher Editha Senekovitsch, 1925: ... These are the high altar, four side altars and the cross altar in a side chapel , surpassing all others in splendor, all artistically carved from stone in wonderful harmony and with statues of saints and angel figures in white and gold technique richly decorated and adorned. In eloquent language they reveal the artistry and wealth of the stonemasons as early as the beginning of the 18th century. At the same time they also proclaim the praise of Elias Hügel, the greatest master ...
Master stonemason Friedrich Opferkuh wrote in 1992: ... The altars in Kaisersteinbruch are witnesses. The harmony of the structure and the spirit of the profiles show a feeling for dimensions . An unknown world. Because only those who have worked themselves can handle structures properly. At the Kaisersteinbrucher altars you can see every blow. A processing landscape that is no longer often seen today. This makes a teaching example for stone processing.
Ana-Maria Altmann: This altar is an example of the influence of imperial court art in the province. The whole vocabulary of baroque sculpture is used here by Hügel masterfully - with the skills of a master stonemason who has done great things at the Karlskirche in Vienna or at the Holy Cross Trinity Column etc.
The base of the altar is designed on two levels. The lower part with a narrow front block and a rear, wider block is intended as a base for the overall composition. Above this part is a zone that surprises with its cleverly used plastic elements. The outer flanks of the upper substructure block end with an elongated volute of acolades, the upper cover plate of which leans against the wall on both the left and the right.
When we look at the central axis, we find a symmetrically placed, plinth-like plastic formation that bears the stonemason's mark of Elias Hill in its frontal fields . This sign is depicted like a blazon . The outer frame looks like a mirror frame - wider at the top, narrower at the bottom - with the outline of an egg, the edge of which is decorated with volutes and acanthus leaves. In this delicately chiselled outer frame there is a simpler oval frame in which the seal of Elias Hill is reflected. It is a worthy pedestal for the pillars, which rise elegantly .
Between the two pedestals with the stonemason's mark (opposite the reference to the Our Lady Altar erected by Hügel in 1732) a dome-like, unadorned, plastic form can be seen. The original structure is no longer there, only the historical photo.
The columns - two free-standing full and one half-columns - symmetrically arranged (on both sides), have the classic profile at the base - gate, scotia, astragalus, are smooth and have capitals, the ornamentation of which is typical of Elias Hill. They have three volutes. These spirals are located on a long acanthus leaf that starts right at the neck of the column. Between the long acanthus leaves are shorter ones that end under the middle of the entire structure of the capital. The composition of the acanthus leaves is reminiscent of the Roman composite capital. The abacus is curved and has a small flower in the middle as a key. (" Sky key ")
A high, three-dimensional architecture builds up above the capitals - with angular profiles drawn in front or in the rear, which were used as pedestals for the original putti and vases. Between the pillars, the hill forms a perspective profiled arch in which the original figures (no longer present) of the crucifixion stood.
Hill finds the conclusion for the very dynamically designed altar in a theatrical representation of heavenly life . For the upper area of the altar he chose the figure God the Father in the clouds (also no longer available). From the whole baroque scenery, we are left with the background today - a layered background plate with a round arch at the end.
The art historian Alfred Schmeller : Here, in place of the destroyed stone crucifixion group, the wooden group from the outer wall, restored in 1964, was set up. Crucifixion group with Maria and Johannes, roughly life-size, 19th century, rural, but good work, on INRI board “AB 1894”. Original version with pink incarnate as the basis for the new version . There was a greenish paint over the original version. The loincloth and cord as well as the table were originally gilded.
literature
- The basis of this article is the work of the art historian Ana-Maria Altmann: The four - still preserved - stone altars of the Kaisersteinbruch Church . In: Festschrift for the laudable church of St. Rochi and St. Sebastiani in the imperial quarry on Leithaberg . Communications of the Kaisersteinbruch Museum and Culture Association , No. 40, December 1995. ISBN 978-3-9504555-3-3 .
- Helmuth Furch : Elias Hügel, Hofsteinmetzmeister , Kaisersteinbruch 1992. ISBN 978-3-9504555-2-6 .
- Helmuth Furch (Ed.): Historisches Lexikon Kaisersteinbruch , 2 volumes, 2004. ISBN 978-3-9504555-8-8 .
Web links
Helmuth Furch 1995, Kaisersteinbrucher Church Festschrift
Individual evidence
- ^ Reclams Austria, Baudenkmäler, Volume 1, Stuttgart 1961. Kaisersteinbruch, p. 158
- ↑ Festschrift. , P. 45.
- ↑ Festschrift. , Pp. 46-48
- ↑ Festschrift. , P. 49.
- ↑ Festschrift. , Pp. 51-54
- ↑ Historisches Lexikon Kaisersteinbruch ... , p. 237f.
- ↑ Elias Huegel, master stone mason , foreword
- ↑ Festschrift .. , pp. 54–56
- ↑ Burgenland, its works of art, historical forms of life and settlement . Verlag St. Peter, Salzburg 1965, p. 129.